Cruise Ship Crashes Into Manhattan Pier

Cruise Ship Crashes Into Manhattan Pier
May 25, 2008

Emergency officials say no one was injured when a cruise ship crashed into a pier on the West Side of Manhattan this morning.

Coast Guard officials say a Norwegian Spirit Cruise ship was attempting to dock at Pier 88 on the Hudson River this morning when it accidentally hit Pier 90.

All passengers were forced to leave the ship, after what they described as a frightening chain of events.

"The ship was coming in and you saw the ship was going to hit the pier, but I didn't feel a thing," said one passenger. "You didn't feel a jar, you didn't feel a jolt."

"You know, I said to my friend, 'looks like the parking garage is coming a little close' and you heard the engines get thrown in reverse and we actually just bumped right into it," said another. "A lot of debris was falling, concrete, the front of the boat was messed up."

City officials say the ship caused structural damage to the upper level of the pier, which is a parking lot, but inspectors say it's okay and not in danger of collapsing.