Key Aspects:
- Norwegian Prima broke free of her mooring lines while docked in Port Canaveral on Sunday, January 18, 2026.
- Sudden wind gusts up to 48 miles per hour contributed to the stress that snapped the ropes holding the ship.
- No injuries were reported in the incident and the ship’s 7-night Caribbean itinerary should not be impacted.
Norwegian Prima is having a rough start to her January 18, 2026 departure from Port Canaveral. Hours before the ship’s scheduled departure, while guests were embarking, sudden wind gusts broke the ship’s mooring lines and she drifted away from the dock briefly.
The incident happened at roughly 2 p.m. on Sunday. Throughout the morning, winds had been relatively steady at 5-7 miles per hour, but just after 9 a.m., winds began to rise to 15-20 miles per hour as a cold front passed through the region.
Just before 2 p.m., sudden gusts were recorded as high as 48 mph, and even steady winds were noted as high as 30-35 mph.
The lines securing the 143,535-gross-ton ship to the pier were quickly stretched beyond their load-bearing capacity and snapped, causing the ship to drift slightly away from the dock.
Video posted of the incident shows the lines breaking, as well as two tugboats in position to move the cruise ship back to the dock and hold her in place safely while new lines can be attached.
Guests onboard heard “Code Echo” called over the ship’s public address system. This is a standard emergency code used to alert crew members to high winds impacting ship operations, including when a vessel may begin to drift.
At no time was Norwegian Prima completely loose or in danger, and no damages or injuries have been reported from the incident.
“Things seem to be good now, but that was a fun start before we actually get started!” said one guest on Reddit about the situation.
While Norwegian Prima was quickly brought back under control and safely secured, there were brief interruptions to the embarkation process and luggage delivery operations until the situation was resolved.
Itinerary Not Impacted
Norwegian Prima was docked at Cruise Terminal 5 at the west end of Port Canaveral on Sunday. While the lines breaking caused a slight disruption to operations at the time, the cruise ship was still expected to depart as planned at 6 p.m.
The itinerary is a 7-night Caribbean voyage, with calls to Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico before the ship returns to central Florida on Sunday, January 25.
At this time, there is no expected adjustment to the itinerary and despite the brief interlude of strong winds, Norwegian Prima should have fairly smooth sailing for her voyage.
The ship remains homeported from Port Canaveral through mid-November, offering a variety of Caribbean itineraries. In November, she will reposition to San Juan for different sailings, including Eastern Caribbean routes and visits to Barbados.
In April 2027, Norwegian Prima will head to Europe for the summer season before returning to San Juan that autumn.
Not the First Line Breaks for Norwegian Prima
This incident is not the first time Norwegian Prima has broken free from mooring lines. In fact, this is the third time such an incident has happened with the first ship in the innovative Prima class.
In July 2023, Norwegian Prima broke free of her moorings while docked in Zeebrugge, Belgium for a port visit. In that incident, both her forward and aft gangways were dragged into the water, but no one was injured. Guests were held ashore briefly while new gangways were attached after the ship was brought back into a secure position.
The ship broke free from her moorings a second time during embarkation in Galveston in January 2024. Just as with today’s incident, strong wind gusts broke the lines and the ship was briefly loose at the dock before being firmly resecured.
It may seem concerning that this is the third time the lines have snapped for Norwegian Prima in her relatively short service life, as the ship only began sailing in September 2022.
At 20 decks high (16 of those decks accessible to passengers), Norwegian Prima has a proportionally tall profile that can be particularly susceptible to high winds. It is important to note, however, that the ship has enjoy many incident-free sailings and that any cruise ship could be subject to unusual conditions that cause lines to snap.
It is a credit to the crew members as well as the fast actions of port workers at all three locations that none of these incidents led to any injuries and Norwegian Prima was able to safely set sail as planned.
