Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The sound of empty cruise ships off Imperial Beach

Eclipse and Millenneum here since March

Vessels off  the Silver Strand as of Aug. 16
Vessels off the Silver Strand as of Aug. 16

At midnight on August 2, some locals in Imperial Beach woke up to blaring foghorns.

Cristbel Adams: "I thought it was my cell phone."

“I live two miles away from the beach and the horns [sounded] like the ship was next to my house, it was loud,” said Cristbel Adams. “At the beginning I thought it was my cell phone or my neighbor’s fax machine.”

Adams, a freelance copywriter, mother, and housewife, has lived in IB for about five years.

“I never heard something like this, and the horn was on and off throughout the night.”

“It started around 9 pm [on April 1],” said April Olthoff. “They were loud, but in the distance, and it happened every three minutes, obviously for safety reasons.”

Olthoff, 30, has lived in IB her whole life; she’s never heard the foghorns here either. “I was taking care of my dog after we got home from the emergency vet that night, [we were] up all morning. At about 2-3 am, they sounded farther away as if the ship turned and the horns weren’t facing directly towards shore.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“It was foggy, and it was zero percent visibility,” Adams continued. “The horns were on and off throughout the night. Some people mentioned it was a Navy ship and other ships, but I don’t know.”

The next morning, at about 8:09, a reporter from ABC 10 News San Diego said: “The dense fog advisory has just expired but we are still seeing overcast skies along our coastline ….”

NF has lived in IB for about 50 years; like Olthoff and Adams, she’s never heard the audible fog warnings here. “It sounds like two ships signaling to one another: [one] short, one long and one medium blast. We’ve never had two cruise ships anchored off the shore for four months. They are making sure the other ship knows where they are.”

"We’ve never had two cruise ships anchored off the shore for four months. They are making sure the other ship knows where they are.”

IB residents chimed in about the foghorns on their Facebooks. “All boats underway have to blow their horns when fog comes in for nine seconds every two minutes because loss [of] visibility,” said one person, “I just asked my husband who is a boat captain.” Another Facebooker responded that she heard the foghorns in Chula Vista, about eight miles northeast of the IB coastline.

“These ships have nowhere to go and it was still going off around 10 am,” Olthoff said. “I talked to a friend who is a captain on the Disney cruise line, and he said those ships only have staff on them.”

Olthoff and NF referred to the Celebrity’s Eclipse and Millennium cruise ships that’ve been anchored off their city’s shoreline since CDC suspended cruise ships sailings around the U.S. on March 14.

ABC News 10 San Diego added, “The ships occasionally pull into port to refuel but otherwise stay anchored off the coast to avoid port fees that can exceed $10,000 a day.”

“A third ship, the Disney Wonder, was anchored in San Diego for the first few months of the pandemic, but departed May 30,” ABC News 10 San Diego reported on July 3. “After thousands of passengers disembarked from the Eclipse in late March, test results came back showing several passengers were COVID-19 positive. More than a month later, in May, 63 passengers remained quarantined on the Eclipse with hundreds of crew members.”

“Both ships are down to minimal staffing levels of about 80 crew members to maintain the vessels and keep them operational, reportedly said Royal Caribbean Cruises spokesman Jonathon Fishman. “As of now, they expect to stay in this position through the summer until our return to service plans are finalized.”

ABC News 10 San Diego added, “The ships occasionally pull into port to refuel, but otherwise stay anchored off the coast to avoid port fees that can exceed $10,000 a day.”

As I wrapped up this article on August 16, the Eclipse and Millennium cruise liners were still in our waters, according to marinetraffic.com. The other vessels that were in the nearby vicinity when I checked were a U.S. government vessel, the Legend, Condor and Excalibur passenger vessels, Maersk Launcher, a fishing boat, a tug boat or special craft, and a pleasure craft.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Vessels off  the Silver Strand as of Aug. 16
Vessels off the Silver Strand as of Aug. 16

At midnight on August 2, some locals in Imperial Beach woke up to blaring foghorns.

Cristbel Adams: "I thought it was my cell phone."

“I live two miles away from the beach and the horns [sounded] like the ship was next to my house, it was loud,” said Cristbel Adams. “At the beginning I thought it was my cell phone or my neighbor’s fax machine.”

Adams, a freelance copywriter, mother, and housewife, has lived in IB for about five years.

“I never heard something like this, and the horn was on and off throughout the night.”

“It started around 9 pm [on April 1],” said April Olthoff. “They were loud, but in the distance, and it happened every three minutes, obviously for safety reasons.”

Olthoff, 30, has lived in IB her whole life; she’s never heard the foghorns here either. “I was taking care of my dog after we got home from the emergency vet that night, [we were] up all morning. At about 2-3 am, they sounded farther away as if the ship turned and the horns weren’t facing directly towards shore.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“It was foggy, and it was zero percent visibility,” Adams continued. “The horns were on and off throughout the night. Some people mentioned it was a Navy ship and other ships, but I don’t know.”

The next morning, at about 8:09, a reporter from ABC 10 News San Diego said: “The dense fog advisory has just expired but we are still seeing overcast skies along our coastline ….”

NF has lived in IB for about 50 years; like Olthoff and Adams, she’s never heard the audible fog warnings here. “It sounds like two ships signaling to one another: [one] short, one long and one medium blast. We’ve never had two cruise ships anchored off the shore for four months. They are making sure the other ship knows where they are.”

"We’ve never had two cruise ships anchored off the shore for four months. They are making sure the other ship knows where they are.”

IB residents chimed in about the foghorns on their Facebooks. “All boats underway have to blow their horns when fog comes in for nine seconds every two minutes because loss [of] visibility,” said one person, “I just asked my husband who is a boat captain.” Another Facebooker responded that she heard the foghorns in Chula Vista, about eight miles northeast of the IB coastline.

“These ships have nowhere to go and it was still going off around 10 am,” Olthoff said. “I talked to a friend who is a captain on the Disney cruise line, and he said those ships only have staff on them.”

Olthoff and NF referred to the Celebrity’s Eclipse and Millennium cruise ships that’ve been anchored off their city’s shoreline since CDC suspended cruise ships sailings around the U.S. on March 14.

ABC News 10 San Diego added, “The ships occasionally pull into port to refuel but otherwise stay anchored off the coast to avoid port fees that can exceed $10,000 a day.”

“A third ship, the Disney Wonder, was anchored in San Diego for the first few months of the pandemic, but departed May 30,” ABC News 10 San Diego reported on July 3. “After thousands of passengers disembarked from the Eclipse in late March, test results came back showing several passengers were COVID-19 positive. More than a month later, in May, 63 passengers remained quarantined on the Eclipse with hundreds of crew members.”

“Both ships are down to minimal staffing levels of about 80 crew members to maintain the vessels and keep them operational, reportedly said Royal Caribbean Cruises spokesman Jonathon Fishman. “As of now, they expect to stay in this position through the summer until our return to service plans are finalized.”

ABC News 10 San Diego added, “The ships occasionally pull into port to refuel, but otherwise stay anchored off the coast to avoid port fees that can exceed $10,000 a day.”

As I wrapped up this article on August 16, the Eclipse and Millennium cruise liners were still in our waters, according to marinetraffic.com. The other vessels that were in the nearby vicinity when I checked were a U.S. government vessel, the Legend, Condor and Excalibur passenger vessels, Maersk Launcher, a fishing boat, a tug boat or special craft, and a pleasure craft.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

Best Sports Betting Sites - 10 Online Sportsbooks Ranked for 2024

Best Sports Betting Sites (2024) - Reviews of TOP Online Sportsbooks
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.