There are numerous thrilling landmarks that vacationers can anticipate to see when cruising out of Sydney, Australia – such because the well-known Sydney Harbour Bridge. A person climbing a cruise ship, nevertheless, is an uncommon sight.
However on Might 17, 2025, onlookers had been shocked to see an unidentified man climbing the mooring ropes of the 108,865-gross ton Carnival Journey at Sydney’s Abroad Passenger Terminal.
The video exhibits a small group of crew members, who appear like they may very well be officers or members of the safety crew, making an attempt to speak to the person from a gangplank not far above him.
The brand new addition to the fleet – which was acquired from P&O Cruises and began crusing underneath the Carnival identify in March 2025 – had simply returned to her homeport from a 12-night crusing to Fiji and was making ready to embark on a 9-night round-trip crusing to the Nice Barrier Reef that very same day.
Climbing a cruise ship, in fact, is extremely harmful – as the person may have been severely injured or killed if he had fallen.
Tampering with the mooring strains can be lethal due to the intense drive they will produce if one had been to snap – and may also trigger harm to the dock and the cruise ship.
It’s unclear what possessed the person to aim such a feat or what his finish objective was, however fortunately, he was introduced down from the ship with no harm to the climber, the crew members, or the primary responders.
In line with native outlet “9 Information,” a New South Wales (NSW) police boat arrived at Round Quay at round 3 p.m. within the afternoon to seek out the person hanging from the ropes as a curious crowd watched.
The authorities coordinated with the crew members to decrease the mooring strains in order that the 30-year-old man may very well be taken into custody.
“They obtained him to the bottom by making the ropes slack and about 30 police escorted him away. We had been there watching,” one witness shared.
The person has not been formally charged presently, although authorities will seemingly be working to know his motivations, consider if he’s in want of psychological assist, and decide any relevant expenses.
A Potential Stowaway?
Whereas the person’s id has not been launched past his age, it’s honest to invest that he was seemingly a passenger of the two,636-guest ship or somebody who works on the port.
It’s because it’s not straightforward to achieve entry to a cruise ship. Earlier than passengers make it to the pier, they should undergo a radical safety screening and doc verification course of.
Because the video of the climbing man has made waves throughout the web, many have been joking (and theorizing) that the topic was on the lookout for a free cruise or to increase his trip.
Learn Additionally: From Mishaps to Maydays – Cruise Ship Accidents
One other witness, in the meantime, thought she acknowledged the person as somebody who had been denied boarding – though this has not been confirmed.
“This appears like the identical dude who was going off at verify in as they wouldn’t let him on,” she wrote.
Cruise strains can deny boarding for a wide range of causes, together with expired or incorrect documentation and medical circumstances that make it unsafe to journey – which might embrace indicators of erratic habits.
Maybe in mild of his disappointment on the denial, the person was keen to attempt something to seek out his method onboard.
However no matter his causes, stowaways on cruise ships are hardly ever profitable within the age of contemporary expertise because of heavy surveillance and expert safety groups.
In actual fact, this type of stunt is probably going sufficient to get the person banned from Carnival (and its sister manufacturers) for all times – because the cruise strains take a zero tolerance stance on the subject of issues of security.
