BHC suspends captain of cruise ship run aground during wedding

The captain of a cruise ship that ran aground in Boston Harbor Saturday while carrying a wedding party has been suspended, with further disciplinary action possible following an investigation, his boss told the Herald.

Alison Nolan, principal and general manager of Boston Harbor Cruises, said the company will conduct its own probe after the Coast Guard completes an official investigation, and anticipates the finding will be “operator error and an error in navigation.”

Nolan did not identify the captain, but said he has 27 years of experience and was administered a drug and alcohol test “immediately post-incident.” He was also subject to random drug and alcohol tests, she said, adding that results would be confidential.

The 113-foot cruise ship Majesty ran aground near Georges Island at about 7 p.m. on Saturday. The 137 wedding guests onboard were then taken by another ship to Long Wharf. There were 15 crew members aboard.

Jaime Stern, 36, of Boston but now living in Tel Aviv, Israel, was celebrating his marriage to Fernanda Stern, 34, aboard the ship. Nolan said yesterday “of course they’ll be issued a full refund of everything that was paid for the event.”

“It’s terribly unfortunate, of course, that not only did this happen, but it happened on such a special day,” Nolan said. “We’re going to work here internally to determine some additional steps for the family.”

Nolan said the company will do its own investigation because it needs to ensure it has “a comfort level with the mariners that work on our team here.”

She said there are no plans to cancel upcoming cruises as a result of the incident.