It was hours of fear for the passengers and crew of the Spirit of Discovery Ship out of cruise who was in the middle of the action Storm during a trip from Great Britain to the Canary Islands. According to initial reports, the ship remained blocked for 15 hours due to waves of up to 1,000 m high 30 meters which prevented any maneuvers by the crew on board. The slingshot resulted in injuries about 100 people.
Traveling in the middle of a storm, fear on board
While the ship was nearby Bay of Biscaynot far from the French coast, has arrived in all its force.
At that moment, the ship’s propulsion safety systems activated, causing a sudden and violent turn on the left.
The Bay of Biscay where the cruise ship Spirit of Discovery was overwhelmed by the storm forcing it to return to the UK
The sudden turnaround resulted in injuries to at least 100 passengers, some of whom required immediate treatment from onboard staff. The Independent reports on it.
In addition, five of the injured were immediately hospitalized Portsmouth as soon as the ship returned to Britain.
Travel
The Spirit of Discovery, a cruise ship owned by Saga Cruises, left the United Kingdom on October 24 for the Canary Islands.
Included in the itinerary 14 day crossingThe first 10 of them – writes the “BBC” – went according to the forecasts and without any problems.
The nightmare began when adverse weather conditions prevented us from reaching Las Palmas, the final stop on the itinerary.
For this reason, the crew had planned to dock in the port of La Coruña in northwestern Spain, but that too was closed due to the raging storm.
Therefore, the crew on board decided to return to the United Kingdom early and during the return journey near the Bay of Biscay the unexpected happened.
Witness statements: “The ship remained stationary for 15 hours in the middle of the storm”
The BBC collected statements from passengers who disembarked in Portsmouth Harbor on Tuesday, November 7th.
Jan BendallThe 75-year-old was traveling with her husband and told the media about the moment when the captain’s voice, crackling with fear, rang out over the loudspeakers: “Stay seated or lie down.” The woman says that the ship was in the middle Storm remained stationary 15 very long hours.
Finally, Bendall says that the dining room was quickly converted into an infirmary and that despite the enormous effort, the onboard staff were “fantastic.”
A spokesperson for the company told the BBC: “While the weather is clearly beyond our control, we would like to sincerely apologize to all those affected as they now return safely to calmer waters.”
Photo source: Getty