Cruise liner smashes an Italian marina to pieces with a 'mini-tsunami'

New footage shows the moment a hapless cruise ship driver wrecked an entire pier and its surrounding smaller boats with his vessel's wake.

The 134,000 tonne Carnival Vista cruise ship caused chaos at a Sicilian marina simply by setting off.

An investigation is now being launched after the 320m-long liner smashed into the port that has space for 160 vessels, with each mooring costing as much as €27,000 ($42,000) per year.

Total damage caused by the waves could be well into the millions.

Nobody was injured and none of the boats that were capsized had anyone on board
The Carnival Vista has 15 decks and can ferry nearly 4000 passengers at a time. It has a top deck running area, a water park and even a suspended cycle track.

The video, posted on Break.com starts with the man behind the camera already expressing some concern for those moored close to the pier, saying: 'This may not be good for these boats.'

He then adds: 'There's no way, look how close we are.'

As the ship they are on pulls closer and closer to the pier, the waves can be seen rising above the walkway and crashing into to the smaller ships.

Those on board then gasp in horror as they look down to see the pier completely bending, taking out everything in its path.

They then report seeing people running away, as several of the smaller boats go under the water or flip over.

'That's so not good,' the cameraman finally remarks.

The huge €700 million ship pulled on away from the port in Messina oblivious to the carnage it had just caused.

Vista is largest ship in Carnival's fleet, the parent company of Costa Cruises, which operated the infamous Costa Concordia vessel that ran aground in Tuscany killing 32 people in 2012.

Concordia's Captain Francesco Schettino was sentenced to 16 years in prison after abandoning ship during the disaster and subsequently found guilty of manslaughter.

It is not believed severe injuries were inflicted after The Vista's manoeuvres, which it carried out on August 28 far too close to the jetties, reports Italian news site Ansa.