Mein Schiff 3 tears open MSC Victorine in storm departure from Bremerhaven
A gust pushed the 99,526 gt cruise ship onto two moored containerships; her lifeboats are wrecked and the Canary Islands cruise is cancelled
TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 3 collided with two moored containerships as she left Bremerhaven in a storm on the evening of Sunday 25 October. The 99,526 gt cruise ship, nearly 300 metres long, struck the 16,520 teu MSC Victorine at about 17:30 and also made light contact with MSC Anne F. Nobody was hurt. TUI Cruises says 2,428 guests and 922 crew were on board.
Bremen police say a strong gust pushed the cruise ship out of control as she was being manoeuvred off the berth with the help of five tugs and with a pilot on board. Germany's weather service had warned of gusts of up to 55 km/h from 13:00 on Sunday until 01:00 on Monday. Passing the berthed MSC Anne F, the cruise ship's stern swung very close to the boxship, and it then ran into the port quarter of MSC Victorine, a 2023-built, Liberian-flagged ship lying at the container terminal.
How badly are the ships damaged?
The boxship's corner tore through several of Mein Schiff 3's lifeboats and their davits, which were destroyed. MSC Victorine was left with a tear of about ten metres in her side above the waterline. MSC Anne F was lightly damaged. Police put the total damage in the millions of euros. Both Mein Schiff 3 and MSC Victorine are held in Bremerhaven without permission to sail, the cruise ship at the cruise terminal and the boxship at the Stromkaje, and both need yard repairs. The Rönner Group, which runs the Lloyd Werft yard in Bremerhaven, is in contact with the two owners.
TUI Cruises says the damage requires short-term repair work at a shipyard, and the 20-night cruise to Portugal, the Canary Islands, Morocco and Spain, due back on 14 November, has been cancelled. Guests left the ship on Monday and are being refunded in full.
Who is investigating?
The water police are investigating whether the master breached his duty of care, as a possible administrative offence, and spoke to the masters of all three ships overnight. Bremerhaven has no wind limit for departures, so a ship may sail in any wind strength. Harbour master Stephan Berger said that the decision is best left to the master. Why the master chose to sail has not been explained.
The same storm put the heavy-lift ship UHL Freedom in difficulty off the Dutch coast that afternoon.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 28 October 2026.
