This is the terrifying moment a freak storm caused a cruise ship to tilt ’45 degrees’ on its side and send furniture flying across the ground.
The Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Sea liner was beginning its transatlantic voyage to Miami on Thursday, November 7, when it was hit by a squall, a strong and sudden gust of sustained wind off the coast of Tenerife.
Shocking images, taken from inside the ship’s boardwalk, shared on social media, show the chaotic scene on board the ship as both passengers and furniture fall to the ground.
Guests can be seen attempting to maneuver around the area as the ship continues to tilt at an increasingly precarious angle.
Furniture and merchandise slid across the deck, and a guest was nearly knocked over by a digital screen. Another man was seen clinging to a table.
Shocking images, taken from inside the ship’s boardwalk, shared on social media, show the chaotic scene on board the ship as both passengers and furniture fall to the ground.
Debris left after the storm
The terrifying incident lasted less than ten minutes and only one guest required medical attention.
This meant the 12-night cruise had to make an unplanned stop in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands so injured passengers could depart, but it has now returned to its course.
Dan So, 41, filmed the dramatic footage after leaving an onboard quiz in a pub. He noticed the platform tilting at a “45-degree” angle and recalled hearing “screams and glasses breaking.”
He said: ‘When I came out of the pub I could hear screams, glasses were falling and the cruise ship had started to tilt.
‘You can see a whole billboard hitting a guy and he saves himself and grabs his girlfriend. I was in shock.
“I was wondering if this was normal, but the more I heard people screaming, I got scared and had to turn off the video.
‘It wasn’t the full tilt you see in the video, but more or less halfway.
‘Some people told me to come closer to them, so we hugged each other and hugged the chairs around us.
Dan So (pictured), 41, filmed the dramatic footage after leaving an onboard quiz in a pub. He noticed the platform tilting at a 45-degree angle and recalled hearing “screams and glasses breaking.”
In Mr So’s footage guests can be seen attempting to maneuver around the area as the ship continues to tilt at an increasingly precarious angle.
‘I had thought this might be the end and the boat was going to fall into the water.
Mr. So, of Toronto, says it was a “huge relief” when the ordeal was over and believes climate change could be to blame for the storm.
He said: “Usually waves make the boat rock, but this one was tilted for five minutes to one side.” He held his position for about three minutes.
“This shows that climate change is creating some things that even experienced cruisers haven’t seen.”
It is believed that the ship encountered a squall, which is a sudden storm often experienced at sea, and its wind tilted the ship.
He captioned his TikTok video “the cruise ship hit a storm in the Atlantic Ocean and tilted 45 degrees into the ocean.”
One person commented: “You can’t play with the ocean.”
In a statement, Royal Caribbean said: “During an unexpected gust of wind near Tenerife, Spain, one of our voyages experienced sudden movement.
‘One of our guests was injured and required additional medical attention, so the ship called in Las Palmas, Spain, for a medical disembarkation. We communicate these changes directly to our guests.’