Cruise Line Reveals What Caused Ship to Hit Reef Near the Island Where Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away” Was Filmed
Cruise Line Reveals What Caused Ship to Hit Reef Near the Island Where Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away” Was Filmed
Raven BrunnerSun, April 5, 2026 at 10:32 PM UTC
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A Blue Lagoon Cruises ship; Tom Hanks in a 'Cast Away' sceneCredit: bluelagooncruises;20th Century-Fox/Getty -
Blue Lagoon Cruises revealed in a statement obtained by PEOPLE what caused the April 4 incident involving one of its ships striking a finger reef near Fiji's Monuriki Island
Thirty passengers were rescued from the ship
The passengers rode a “large fast ferry” back to Port Denarau
A small cruise ship hit a reef near the island where the 2000 survival film Cast Away starring Tom Hanks was filmed — and the cruise line is now explaining why it happened.
Blue Lagoon Cruises revealed in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that the April 4 incident involving one of its ships striking a finger reef near Fiji's Monuriki Island occurred because ofpoor weather conditions, specifically “a severe squall.”
“Whilst it is very early in the investigation, conditions upon the ship anchoring in the area were calm, and it appears a severe squall caused the ship’s anchor to drag towards a reef whereby it became grounded,” the cruise line said.
A Blue Lagoon Cruises shipCredit: Blue Lagoon Cruises
The crew had a limited time to respond, per Blue Lagoon Cruises.
A squall, according to the National Weather Service, is a strong wind characterized by a sudden increase in wind speed.
Blue Lagoon Cruises said there were about 30 passengers on board at the time of the incident. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that, per Fiji Navy sources, the ship was also carrying about 30 crew members.
Following the incident, the passengers and non-essential crew “disembarked the ship with their luggage and personal belongings in an orderly manner” and rode a “large fast ferry” back to Port Denarau.
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The guests were accommodated at Denarau hotels, per Blue Lagoon Cruises.
“No guests or crew were injured, and many were thankful to Blue Lagoon Cruises for our response,” the cruise line said.
Blue Lagoon Cruises said its immediate priority “is to reduce and/or eliminate any environmental risk and to finalize a plan to recover the ship, noting that the current weather forecast is not in our favor.”
According to Fiji Meteorological Services, there are active weather warnings in Fiji on April 5 for flash floods, heavy rain and a tropical cyclone. The forecast predicts that rainy weather is expected until April 10.
A reef in FijiCredit: getty
PEOPLE reached out to the Republic of Fiji Navy and the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji, but did not receive immediate responses.
ABC reported that the ship was on a seven-day cruise.
An itinerary on the Blue Lagoon Cruises website shows that Monuriki is the first stop on the Escape to Paradise trek.
Activities include seeing the filming locations of Cast Away, which follows Hanks as a FedEx analyst who becomes stranded on a deserted island after his plane crashes, as well as a experiencing captain’s dinner.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
