Cruise Ship Run Aground in Virginia

Jenny Albano

Contributor

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On Thursday, November 8 sixty-six passengers and crew members were transported to Virginia's shore by the Coast Guard after their cruise ship ran aground.

The ship, the Spirit of Nantucket, hit something while traveling in the intracoastal Waterway at around 5:30 a.m. and shortly began taking in water. When the captain realized this he decided to run the ship aground instead of letting the ship sink.

The ship "eased onto a mud shoal at the shoreline" about 25 miles south of the Elizabeth River near Norfolk, Virginia, while damage was assessed, the company statement said.

There was no reported injuries and the passengers were given breakfast while they awaited the Coast Guard ships to transport them. The cruise ship is lodged about 3 miles into the waterway from the Atlantic Ocean.

The ship had been on a 10-day cruise from Alexandria, Virginia, to Charleston, South Carolina. All the passengers were taken to a nearby hotel to stay.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Airlines, Cruises, Buses, and Other Mass Transit Accidents.