A cruise ship with thousands of tourists ran aground this Monday in the Dominican Republic shortly after sailing from a pier in Puerto Plata, some 200 kilometers from the capital Santo Domingo, authorities confirmed.
Local media reported that the Norwegian Escape cruise ship, which ran aground near the Taino Bay pier in Puerto Plata Bay, travels about 3,000 tourists and 1,600 crew members.
He ran aground because of “a great wind this afternoon, about 30 knots,” Vice Admiral Ramón Betances Hernández, commander of the Dominican Navy, told reporters.
“So far the crew and passengers have no danger,” said the military chief surrounded by journalists, without specifying the number of occupants.
The boat was built in 2015 with a capacity for 4,266 passengers and a crew of 1,733 people, says the tourism company on its website.
They have tried to remove the ship with the help of tugs, but until late at night it had not been achieved, so it is planned to incorporate more units in the coming hours.
“The tide in this area rises about 1 meter from 4:00 in the morning and we think that in the morning, taking advantage of high tide, we can get the boat out of the position it is in,” said Betances Hernández.
Puerto Plata, located on the northern coast of the Dominican Atlantic, is known for its paradisiacal beaches, touted as the “Amber Coast” and “Bride of the Atlantic”.
In just two days, between March 9 and 10, some 11,700 foreign visitors arrived here, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism.
The arrival of cruise ships is frequent on the island of 10 million inhabitants who find tourism one of its main sources of income.
mbj/pgf/ag