My favorite London cruise blogger – John Honeywell a/k/a @CaptGreybeard – penned a couple of excellent blogs this weekend explaining that the maiden voyage of the Saga Sapphire cruise ship, already delayed due to refurbishment over-runs and striking workers, has cut its maiden voyage short due to the failure of one of its engines.

It tuns out that the new flagship for Saga Cruises is stuck in Valencia, Spain waiting for engine repairs. Not an impressive start.  

Engine problems, can you imagine that on a cruise ship? Add the Sapphire to the club of recent engine failure cruise ships: Splendor, Celebration, Caribbean Princess, Queen Mary 2, Allegra, Quest. & Plancius.  But Captain Greybeard doesn’t stop there. He reports that:

"It has also emerged that Sapphire’s week in Southampton was not without incident.

An inspection by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency uncovered a total of 55 "deficiencies" on board, ranging from lack of training in fire drills, to an incomplete lifeboat inventory. The faults were not considered serious enough for the MCA to detain the ship.

The Marine Accident Investigation Bureau is also holding an inquiry into an incident in which two crewmembers went overboard from a lifeboat during a drill on March 29."

More bad news for the bad news cruise industry.  Watch the smoky cruise ship’s debut below.  Ah, the smell of bunker fuel:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dT24yEyvScg%3Frel%3D0