A 35-year-old electrical technician died aboard P&O Cruises' Arvia on Oct. 26, 2025, after a passenger lift reactivated during post-repair testing and crushed him against the shaft wall, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) concluded in its final report published Oct. 8.

The MAIB identified ineffective planning, poor communication and reliance on self-resetting door interlocks as directly contributing safety issues. It investigated on behalf of the Bermuda Ship Registry, under which the Arvia is flagged.

The ship was sailing from Southampton to Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 5,299 passengers and 1,681 crew onboard at the time of the accident, according to the report.

What happened on lift 14?

The technician was inspecting passenger lift 14 after overnight repairs. At roughly 5:52 a.m., while the Arvia was about 75 nautical miles northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain, the lift reactivated and moved upward, crushing him against the side of the shaft.

The ship's doctor pronounced him dead at 6:07 a.m. The Arvia diverted to A Coruña, Spain, where the body was taken ashore.

The report reconstructs the sequence. The technician and a supervising officer were testing the lift. He could not open a deck's shaft doors because the release mechanism was defective, so he entered the shaft from another deck. Both sets of doors then closed, the safety circuit was restored, and a stored call sent the lift upward.

Which safety failures did investigators find?

The MAIB listed five directly contributing safety issues:

• The two men did not share a common understanding of the task.
• Positive control of the lift had not been established before he entered the shaft.
• The work relied on door interlocks that "did not provide an effective safety barrier," because they reset themselves when the doors closed.
• The permit to work was not revised when the scope of the job changed.
• The officer who created the permit had no formal lift safety training with Carnival UK.

Investigators also noted that the defective door release mechanism prompted the use of another route into the shaft.

What is Carnival UK required to change?

The MAIB issued one recommendation, numbered 2026/159, asking Carnival UK to review the use of self-resetting lift door interlocks as a safety barrier during maintenance or inspection.

Carnival UK has already acted, the report says. The company has instructed electro-technical officers across the fleet to reinforce lift maintenance and rescue requirements, banned the use of the fixed shaft ladder to reach the top of the lift car, and introduced an interim requirement that lift maintenance staff complete manufacturer or third-party safety training within the previous six months, alongside a competency verification process.

The report lands as Carnival UK's parent, Carnival Corporation, continues to operate the largest cruise fleet in the industry, and the findings will inform how the operator manages technical maintenance risk across its ships going forward.