Carnival Splendor to be Relocated

Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Contact: John Gilmore (619) 341-5684, (619) 686-7206

The Carnival cruise ship that was towed into San Diego harbor last week will be relocated on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010, to the Port of San Diego's Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.

The repositioning of the Carnival Splendor by tug boats will begin about 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. It will take about three hours to travel the roughly 2.5 miles from the B Street Cruise Ship Terminal to Tenth Avenue.

Port and Carnival officials said the ship is being relocated because it will require major repairs that are better accommodated in a water-side industrial facility rather than at a passenger cruise ship terminal.

"The industrial shipyard resources, equipment and shipyard staff are more accessible from the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, which is part of the working waterfront area of the port," said Joel Valenzuela, the Port's Director Maritime Operations, who oversees the Port's two cargo terminals at Tenth Avenue and National City and the cruise ship terminals. "It is the more suitable location for a major repair undertaking such as this."

He added that while the Port will continue to receive shipments of bagged fertilizer, wind energy components and other goods, along with a scheduled military operation, Tenth Avenue will be able to accommodate the Splendor.

Carnival has estimated the Splendor could be stationed at Tenth Avenue for several weeks.

Carnival Cruise Lines has announced cancellation of voyages on the Carnival Splendor through Jan. 9, 2011, to allow time for repairs. The ship is scheduled to re-enter service on Jan.16, 2011. Guests who were scheduled to sail on these voyages will receive a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, along with a 25 percent discount on a future cruise.

There are three major ship yards in the area – General Dynamics NASSCO, Northrup Grumman and BAE Systems – but they are located south of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge. Because of the ship's height, it would be unable to maneuver under the bridge. The 113,000-ton ship is 215 feet in height and the bridge is 200 feet.

Two cruise ships are scheduled to arrive this Saturday at the B Street terminal and Carnival and Port officials determined it was prudent to relocate the ship at this time.

Carnival and its contractors continue to assess the extent of the damage that occurred on Monday, Nov. 8, 2010, when an engine fire cut off all power, leaving the ship dead in the water some 200 miles from San Diego and about 45 miles off the Mexican coast. On board were 4,500 passengers and crew who were scheduled to be on a seven-day cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

While crews assess the damage, investigators from the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board and the ship's flag state of Panama, are continuing the investigation into the cause of the fire.

The media interested in covering the Splendor's relocation will be unable to visit the Tenth Avenue terminal because of logistics and because it is a secured facility.

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