Video: Carnival Magic Accidentally Discharges Scrubber Wastewater in Port

ACCIDENTS ARE PREVENTABLE INCIDENTS

Stain appearing in Grand Turk harbor (YouTube)

PUBLISHED NOV 2, 2023 2:41 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Carnival Cruise Line’s ship the Carnival Magic experienced what appears to have been an accidental discharge of wastewater from its exhaust scrubber system as it was preparing to depart port yesterday. Passengers were posting videos and photos on social media of a large black stain appearing behind the ship in the harbor at Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The captain can be heard in some of the videos assuring passengers that everything was fine with their cruise ship.

The Carnival Magic is a 130,000 gross ton cruise ship built in 2011 with a capacity for 3,690 passengers and over 1,300 crew. She is on a 6-day cruise from Miami and was preparing to depart Grand Turk after a day-long port call when the mishap occurred.

 

 

 

“A momentary power outage likely contributed to the incident,” a Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson said in response to inquiries from the trade media. “The Carnival Magic team is working on the clean-up of a soot discharge from the ship’s Exhaust Gas Control Systems (EGCS) that occurred while preparing for departure today from Grand Turk.”

Passengers reported that around 5:30 p.m. as the cruise ship was preparing for a 6:00 p.m. sailing the ship briefly lost electrical power. Some reports said the lights were off for around one minute while the captain and others confirmed emergency lighting came on aboard the ship.  While power was quickly restored, passengers began noticing the large black area drifting behind the ship with some fearing it was an oil discharge. The cruise line however reports it was a discharge from the exhaust scrubber system.

 

 

Passengers posted pictures and said they saw officers and crewmembers on the dock looking upset. The cruise line said the appropriate local officials were also notified of the incident. Later images showed one of the cruise ship’s lifeboats towing what appeared to be a boom.

The cruise ship departed Grand Turk approximately two and three-quarters hours behind schedule at 8:45 p.m.