Fog Halts Tender Operations While Holland America ...

A go to to Nome, Alaska, acquired just a little trickier than anticipated for visitors aboard Holland America Line’s Noordam on Thursday, June 18, 2026. Whereas the tender port is charming to go to, heavy fog within the space quickly halted water shuttle service whereas visitors had been nonetheless ashore, and finally, the tenders had been recalled and the go to was successfully cancelled.

Noordam had departed from Seattle, Washington on Sunday, June 7, for a 28-day “Legendary Alaska Arctic Circle Solstice” cruise with visits not solely to the preferred ports akin to Ketchikan, Sitka, and Juneau, but additionally less-visited locations like Valdez, Nome, and Kodiak Island.

Upon reaching Nome, a port the place smaller water shuttles are essential to deliver visitors to shore, the 82,318-gross-ton ship started tender operations as regular, however fog shortly rolled in.

Visitors onboard described the situation on Facebook as “absolute whiteout circumstances” with worsening climate anticipated all through the day.

In accordance with ship’s safety as reported to KNOM Radio Mission, solely 229 visitors and 14 crew members had been capable of attain shore earlier than tender service was halted.

Cruise Hive reached out to Holland America Line for clarification on the state of affairs. The cruise line confirmed that tender service needed to be quickly halted to make sure security.

“Whereas anchored in Nome, Alaska, operations for Noordam had been impacted by diminished visibility because of fog, prompting the suspension of tender service as a precautionary measure,” the cruise line defined.

“Quite a few visitors from earlier tenders remained ashore in Nome throughout this pause. They had been accompanied by shipboard crew members who helped maintain visitors knowledgeable and comfy. Noordam resumed tender operations as quickly as climate circumstances allowed.”

A visitor who was a type of unable to return to the ship shared their private insights of the state of affairs.

“Being one of many individuals in Nome and caught on the town due to fog, we’re all fantastic. My honest thanks for the great care, leisure, [and] crew with us,” they stated. “Below the circumstances, we couldn’t ask for higher remedy. Thanks Nome, Alaska.”

The quickly stranded visitors had been accommodated in an outdated church to attend for tender service to renew, and snacks had been offered. An area Native tribe even carried out some songs and dances for impromptu leisure, making certain everybody was comfortable and comfy.

Sadly, Noordam is the one ship scheduled to go to Nome in June and the biggest ship scheduled for the port through the 2026 season. The go to was hoped to be worthwhile for native companies and artisans. With so few visitors capable of make it to shore, the state of affairs will certainly have an financial impression on the neighborhood.

A number of smaller expedition ships will go to in August and September. Noordam is not going to return to the remoted port till June 2027.

Security is the First Consideration

The choice to halt tender service was made to make sure the protection of the visitors, crew members, and the Nome neighborhood. Earlier than the pause in tender service because the fog was thickening, an incident did happen that might have been scary for these onboard that individual water shuttle.

“Previous to the pause in operations, one tender made contact with an underwater object however safely continued to shore. There have been no accidents reported, no indicators of water getting into the tender, and it remained absolutely operational. The tender returned to the ship and is present process evaluation for injury,” the cruise line famous.

The tender was caught for almost an hour earlier than one other tender was capable of tow it free.

There have been no stories of accidents and at no time did any water enter the small boat, which remained absolutely operational. The boat was taken from service as a precautionary measure and assessed for any signal of injury.

What kind of “underwater object” was struck has not been confirmed, however it could have been some form of pipe or different becoming.

The technical extent of any injury is unknown, although images shared by visitors present some beauty injury to the underside of the tender boat. The small craft will likely be completely assessed to make sure it’s sound and might proceed to function, and the situation of the incident will likely be famous to make sure there is no such thing as a threat to different boats within the harbor.

Onboard Schedule Adjusted

In the meantime, onboard the 1,916-passenger ship, leisure and exercise schedules had been adjusted as a result of finish of tender service. Further choices had been made accessible to visitors and a brand new every day schedule was offered so those that had been unable to get off the ship nonetheless had loads to take pleasure in.

Many visitors onboard had been additionally capable of attain out by way of textual content to mates and family members caught on shore to stay in touch through the unsure state of affairs.

Primarily, the go to to Nome was successfully cancelled because of fog, regardless that some visitors had already made it to shore. Noordam was to have remained on the port from 8 a.m. to five p.m.