Probe Begins on Grounding of QE2 Liner

Passengers from the Queen Elizabeth 2 took buses, trains and a ferry home Saturday as investigators tried to learn what caused the luxury liner to run aground just off the southeastern Massachusetts coast.

The ship got stuck on an underwater ledge about 10 miles from Buzzards Bay late Friday as it returned to New York City from a five-day cruise to Nova Scotia. None of the 2,800 crew members or passengers was hurt.

Coast Guard officials said the floating hotel, described as a “City at Sea,” suffered several gashes to its hull when it hit an apparently uncharted obstruction.

Officials of Cunard Lines, operator of the QE2, said it was too early to tell the extent of the damage, but they canceled at least two transatlantic crossings.

With the passengers safely ashore, the ship will be moved to a drydock in Boston where repairs can be made, officials said.

Cmdr. Robert L. Skewes of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office declined to comment Saturday on a possible cause, saying the case is under investigation.

Ron Santangelo, a Cunard spokesman, said the ship’s captain had turned control of the vessel over to a coastal pilot, who steered it onto the shelf.

The pilot, John Hadley, a veteran of the waters where the QE2 went aground, was undergoing a routine drug test, and his lawyer, Boston maritime attorney William Hewig, said he understood his client “may be the target of an investigation.”

Coastal pilots are often hired to guide large vessels through tight spots, and the QE2 was traveling past a series of small islands dotting the shallow waters off Buzzards Bay when it ran aground.

Passengers first reacted to the incident with a mixture of amusement and confusion, with one telling a local television station that some aboard were more concerned about whether the ship’s casino would stay open than they were about the extent of the damage.

Passenger Nat Welch told Boston radio station WBZ that some people were dining when the accident occurred.

“During dinner we suddenly experienced a tremendous vibration,” he said. “In fact, the ship started shaking quite violently.

“There was no panic . . . a couple of people did get up and leave the room,” Welch said.

Some uneasy passengers slept on the ship overnight with life jackets on, said Edward Slutsky of New York City.

“The main problem was there was no communication,” he said. “No officers came around to let us know what was going on. I still don’t know what happened.”

Cunard officials said that after the accident a party atmosphere prevailed among passengers aboard the ship, which sports several restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

Cunard officials said the party that began on board would continue on the train to New York, which would also have open bars. Passengers will also be given a $500 voucher toward their next Cunard excursion, they said.

Passengers were taken to Newport by ferry Saturday, where buses waited to take them on to Providence, R.I. From there, Amtrak trains were to return them to New York, Santangelo said.

The accident punctured at least four tanks on the 937-foot-long vessel. Three were ballast tanks and the fourth an empty fuel tank, said Coast Guard Quartermaster David Moynihan.

A small amount of fuel leaked into the ocean, but was contained by booms placed around the ship. Coast Guard officials called the spill minor, and a cleanup company from Cape Cod, Mass., was hired to remove the fuel.

The ship was refloated about an hour after the accident and then anchored nearby.