CATANIA, Italy – Winds were strong enough to blow a passenger overboard a cruise ship docked in Italy last Friday.
The passenger fell into the water off the Norwegian Epic docked in Catania, Sicily, according to a statement Norwegian Cruise Line made to several media outlets .
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One passenger, Brian Koning, posted on social media that the 1,080-foot vacation liner broke loose from its moorings amid strong wind gusts around 1 p.m. local time.
"All ropes snapped with loud bangs," Koning wrote.
The FOX Forecast Center said wind gusts over 30 mph were reported at the nearby Catania-Fontanarossa Airport at the time.
The Norwegian Cruise Line Epic was built in 2010 and was last refurbished earlier this year. It can hold up t