Two crew members die on Holland America Line ship in Bahamas

Two Holland America Line cruise ship crew members were killed on Friday (March 22) following what the US-owned cruise line called an “incident” in one of the Nieuw Amsterdam ship’s engineering rooms.

While their exact cause of death has not been released, Global News reported the cruise line said there was an “accidental steam release” around 9:20 a.m. local time while the ship was docked at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.

USA Today identified the crew members as third engineer Joseph Terrado, from the Philippines, and wiper Wawan Gusnawan, from Indonesia.

“All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this event,” the company said in a statement. “We’ve been in contact with the families of both team members and are offering our support to them and to all of our crew at this difficult time. The safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew are the company’s absolute priority.”

Holland America Line confirmed “the appropriate authorities” were notified of the deaths and the Bahamas Maritime Authority is investigating.

The Nieuw Amsterdam initially set sail from Fort Lauderdale on a seven-night voyage beginning March 16 and set to end on the day the deaths occurred.

Passengers onboard the ship, which set sail from Fort Lauderdale on March 16 for a seven-night voyage, told NBC News the captain cried while announcing the deaths over the public address system and asked for a moment of silence.

“That entire scenario did affect the entire cruise,” Laine Doss, who was travelling on the Nieuw Amsterdam, told NBC News. “Things were cancelled, joyous events were cancelled, and we really just thought about mortality — the people who perished on the ship.”

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