A Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd cruise ship hit a pier at a Mexican port, putting a 13-metre gash in its hull, but not injuring any passengers or crew members, the company said yesterday.

The accident happened on Wednesday as the Grandeur of the Seas was docking in Costa Maya in the southern part of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Winds of 27 kph and a stiff current contributed to the incident, the company said.

"The ship has a football-shaped puncture in the bow on its starboard side that is approximately 13 metres long and 1.5 metres wide at its widest point," the company said in a written statement. "The puncture is in the first deck approximately 1.5 metres above the waterline."

Grandeur of the Seas left New Orleans on Saturday carrying 2,030 passengers and 740 crew members. The Miami-based company said it was making plans to return passengers to New Orleans if the ship were unable to return to the city this weekend.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.