Winds gusting to near hurricane strength broke the moorings on the already damaged cruise ship Carnival Triumph at her berth at BAE Shipyard in the Port of Mobile, Alabama at 1:45 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The cruise ship, which had recently been adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for five days after a fire and an electrical failure, was adrift again, this time down the Mobile ship channel where it is reported to have collided with another ship. Two men were in a guard shack that was blown into the river. One man was recovered and the other is still missing.

The AP reports that new damage to the cruise ship included “a 20-foot gash about 2 to 3 feet wide … visible about halfway up the hull from the water … wrapped partway around the stern. Underneath the gashed area, two levels of railing were dangling and broken.”  The Carnival Triumph is reported to have drifted for several hours before tugs could secure the ship at the Mobile Cruise Terminal. Thanks to Brian Frissel for passing along the news.