Passenger Charged With Releasing Cruise Ship Anchor

The FBI reports that a California man entered a restricted area and released the rear anchor of Holland America’s MS Ryndam. The cruise ship was travelling from Tampa, FL to Costa Maya, Mexico when the incident occurred early Saturday morning.

The ship was not damaged and no one was injured. During questioning with FBI officials, Rick Ehlert admitted releasing the anchor and throwing a life buoy overboard. Forty-four year old Ehlert, says he was drunk when he released the anchor and claims the cruise ship’s anchor release system was similar to his system on his 50-foot boat.

Ehlert will face charges of attempting to damage a vessel and endangering a ship’s safe navigation in Tampa federal court. The ship could have been severely damaged by the stunt and the 1,000 passengers onboard could have been injured.