Carnival Ship: Overboard Shipyard Worker, John R. Johnson, Still Missing After Triumph Trouble

Carnival can’t catch a break.

The cruise ship line's 900-foot Carnival Triumph became unmoored on Wednesday by hurricane-force winds in Mobile, Ala., and set adrift for several hours before four tugboats pulled the vessel back to its terminal, the Associated Press reports.

A 20-foot hole about two-three feet wide was visible on the right side of the ship’s stern, and electric cables were dangling from the port and two levels of railing were broken, AP reports. In a statement on its Facebook page, Carnival said that initial indications are damage to the ship was limited.

Triumph has been docked at BAE Shipyard in the Port of Mobile since an engine fire in February crippled it off the Gulf of Mexico, leaving 4,200 passengers without running water or power for five days.

Strong wind gusts on Wednesday knocked a guard shack with two shipyard workers into the Mobile River. One man was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the search continues for the second worker, who has been identified as John R. Johnson, 64, according to Carnival’s statement.

On Wednesday, USA Today published a letter from a senior Carnival executive to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, defending the cruise line’s safety record in the wake of the Triumph incident on Feb. 10.

Carnival’s Triumph, Elation, Dream and Legend have all reported problems in the past year, the Los Angeles Times reports. The cruise line faces a lawsuit seeking class-action status following the Triumph mishap.

"Cruise ships, in large part operating outside the bounds of United States enforcement, have become the Wild West of the travel industry, and it's time to rein them in before anyone else gets hurt," New York state Sen. Charles Schumer said in a statement.

Carnival's problems triggered the senator to propose a “Cruise Ship Passenger Bill of Rights,” which seeks to “ensure that passengers aren't forced to live in Third World conditions or put their lives at risk when they go on vacation."