Tsunami Effects Hawaii Cruise, Passengers Left Behind

The 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has initiated several tsunami warnings for coastal cities in the Pacific. Japan, Chili, Hawaii, and the US West Coast were all put under a tsunami warning. Those in the tsunami zones were instructed to seek higher ground.

Most of the locations received lower waves than anticipated. Crescent City, a small coastal town in Northern California that has been hit by tsunamis in the past, only had 3.6 feet waves. Japan, which was affected by a devastating 2011 tsunami, experienced several rounds of waves reaching up to 4.2 feet in the northeast of the country. As you can see from the screenshot of Cruisemapper, the Sunflower Sapporo Ferry is having to hold a circular pattern outside of the Oarai port.

While most coastal cities are downgrading their tsunami warnings, Chili has increased them. The country has 3,999 miles of coastline which has yet to receive waves from the earthquake.

What do cruise ships do when there is a tsunami?

For most cruise ships, being out in deeper waters is the safest strategy for tsunamis. In the deep open ocean the tsunami waves are under the water so ships simply float over them. The danger with tsunamis and cruise ships is at port, where the tsunami can lift itself out of the water and have devastating effects to all the nearby infrastructures and becomes deadly for people. 

In Hawaii, the NCL Pride of America was forced by the Coast Guard to depart two and half hours early to seek safer waters for the tsunami. Guests on shore excursions received texts from NCL saying that the ship was leaving early and to get back as soon as possible. Several could not make it back in time and this left passengers and crew stranded on the land to seek higher ground and safety. Many returned in the time window where they couldn’t board the ship as it was being unmoored and then had to watch the ship sail away in front of them.

There hasn’t been any official word on how many were left behind but in the video from WPDE ABC15 you can see several dozen passengers trying to get on buses. It appears that NCL has left crew members behind to help with the accommodations and assisting the passengers who did not make it back to the ship on time. While many of the passengers were dismayed, most seemed understanding of the extraordinary circumstances around the situation.

TikTok user mandythecruiseplanner has chronicled her experience of being left behind. Mandy talks about the uncertainty and confusion from passengers and crew to being taken to Hilo where passengers found shelter in a high school gym. The accommodations seemed to have been on the floor with some cardboard, or sleeping in the bus. Mandy keeps her spirits up through her videos but also shows how awful the experience has been.

At the time of the ship’s departure it was unknown if the ship would return when the danger was over, or if it would move onto its next port of call which is Kona. Looking at Cruisemapper today it seems the Pride of America is circling back to pick up their stranded passengers and crew. There has been no word if any compensation will be extended to the guests who were left behind.