A young couple’s idyllic wedding cruise was engulfed in chaos when the ship’s captain became ‘disoriented’ in rough weather and plowed the vessel head-first into a breakwater.
Alex Buckman and Katrina Thompson set off with their 82 guests aboard the Vista Star from Duluth, Minnesota, at 7.30pm on Saturday night.
Three hours later the groom’s grandmother was dangling over the edge of a rescue boat after the captain defied warnings of stormy conditions and sailed off into the open waters of Lake Superior.
‘There was no slowing down; he was full-boar,’ said her daughter Kristine Buckman. ‘We didn’t just bump into it, we T-boned that breakwater.’
Bride Katrina Thompson and groom Alex Buckman posed for pictures as they stepped aboard, little imagining that their guests would later be scrambling for the life jackets behind them
Passengers and rescuers alike struggled not to fall into the stormy waters of the lake
The bride and groom had posed happily for pictures on deck after boarding the craft earlier in the evening as their guests arrived.
‘It was a wedding, so we celebrated and had dinner and as the night went on, things just started to change,’ Buckman’s aunt Beth Elstad told northernnewsnow.com.
The boat was due to sail out of the harbor into the lake before returning to port under the Aerial Lift Bridge three miles to the north.
At 5.40pm the Duluth Fire Department had issued a warning of dangerous swimming conditions, and Elstad said guests assumed the ship would remain in the harbor if conditions were too rough.
But at some point the boat slipped out of harbor and into the open waters where guests began to feel the effects of the five-foot swell.
Guests taking some fresh air up on deck then saw with horror that the boat was bearing down hard on the breakwater next to the Superior Point Entry Lighthouse.
‘We were headed straight toward that break wall for several minutes,’ said guest Ryan Wendlandt
‘Myself and a few other passengers on the top deck saw it coming for quite some time, but we assumed the Captain had to see it and was planning to turn.
‘We T-boned that wall with no change in speed or effort to turn and/or avoid it. How on earth the captain didn’t see it coming, I’ll never know.’
Guests were looking forward to an idyllic wedding cruise on the 92 foot Vista Star
The happy couple looked radiant as they enjoyed the congratulations of their friends
But those friends were hurled across the dancefloor by the impact of the head-on collision
Video filmed on board shows guests thrown across the dance floor and struggling to remain upright as the ship reeled from the impact.
‘There was a sharp veer,’ Elstad said. ‘One of the speakers in the corner toppled over with some glass on the table and nearly hit one of the guests.
‘That was the first clue and we all were kind of like, ‘What is happening? Are we going in circles?’
Guests said that staff did little to help and screaming passengers were left to fend for themselves as they struggled to understand what was happening.
‘The guests and my family members handed out life jackets,’ said Elstad. ‘My family and guests treated and assessed for injuries.
‘We were like how do you pick and choose who’s going to get out of here?
‘Really, that’s what it felt like and that’s never a situation anybody should be in. This was completely avoidable.’
The crew declared an emergency and a boat from the St Louis County Rescue Squad raced to the scene
Passengers told KBJR that the crew did not know how to open the hatch to see if the boat was sinking, and that a colleague of the bridegroom’s from Fraser Shipyards checked the ballast.
The boat’s meandering path and impact with the breakwater were recorded by a guest
The groom’s aunt Beth Elstad said passengers were left to fend for themselves
Jaw-dropping footage shows waves hurling the rescue boat into the hull of the stricken ship before bouncing away as Buckman’s grandmother is hauled precariously on board before being taken to hospital with head and hip injuries.
Owner Justin Steinbach said the captain had sailed into the open lake before deciding to turn back because of the rough conditions.
But as he turned the boat he ‘must have got disoriented on the opening for entry’.
‘He ran too close to the rock break wall and that’s what we hit.’
He said the captain was rattled by the collision and members of the rescue team guided it back to port under its own steam after confirming that it was not taking on water,’ finally allowing the traumatized passengers to disembark.
‘Once the two captains jumped on and took control, it was much smoother and less chaotic,’ Kristine Buckman said.
‘But probably half the entire passenger list was puking either out the back or the front.’
‘That boat will need a good bath.’
Guests were determined not to let the chaotic scenes detract from the happy couple’s big day, and posted supportive messages to their social media pages in the following days.
‘All of those Gilligan’s Island jokes we made may have tempted fate,’ wrote Jenny Dillon.
‘Katrina Thompson, it will be a day no one will ever forget!! You started this union off with a bang! Literally.’
‘Crashing into the break wall and the Coast Guard having to come attempt to save us, last night was definitely one for the ages,’ added Pez Davila.
The captain tested negative for drugs and alcohol, and the the St Louis County Sheriff’s Office said they were not currently considering criminal charges.
Steinbach defended the crew of the boat he has owned for 13 years.
‘Our goal has always been to make great experiences,’ he told Fox21.
‘This was an unfortunate experience. It does happen. You know, in the marine world.
The festivities were brought to an abrupt end as the battered guests waited for rescue
Boat owner Justin Steinbach said his captain ‘must have got disoriented on the opening’
‘We feel terrible that happened. But again, the way that the crew responded in a way to make sure that the boat was safe, the crew was safe, and most importantly, the passengers were saved.’
His explanation did nothing to mollify the groom’s aunt.
‘Hearing the owner of the boat saying that safety is paramount that they have procedures and protocol,’ she spat.
‘There were none executed.’
