Ship-shape

Much has been made in the news of a cruise ship which suffered a major "tilt, "list" or "tip" near Port Canaveral the other day. Reports are unclear as to the degree of non-vertical the ship went - and it's also unclear as to the cause - human error, non-human error - autopilot problems have all been suggested but remain unconfirmed. The incident resulted in injuries to nearly 100 people - two critically and 20 seriously - of the 4,300 passengers and crew on board - although for some it was a matter of holding onto the ship's railing fear of being pitched overboard! The swimming pool was emptied - of people and water - during the event. Reports as to the amount of tiltage vary - 45 degrees, 68 degrees - but passengers did report looking out of their windows to the water below; or the sky above. Scary and serious stuff for the recently launched Crown Princess vessel (pictured right). Almost all the reports I read about the incident also made reference to the film to be shown that night on board - "The Titanic". Guess that may not have felt so comfortable in using this if the filmic offering had been "Poseidon".
Surprisingly, this is not the first time a large cruise ship has encountered tiltage. Earlier this year, The Grand Princess started "tipping and tipping" when it did an emergency turnaround. Not surprisingly, a spokesperson for the company was reported as saying:

The decision to abruptly turn a cruise ship around while traveling at a high
rate of speed was "clearly a mistake" .