Med cruise ship sends out SOS
A cruise ship with 732 people on board sent out a distress signal today after its engines died during a storm in the Mediterranean.
The Voyager, sent out an SOS after a wave struck the boat and knocked its engines out, a rescue official man said.
The ship was 65 nautical miles south of Menorca, part of Spain’s Balearic islands.
The national news agency Efe said two Spanish tugboats were headed to rescue the vessel. The agency said the stricken vessel was plying the Barcelona-Tunisia route.
Several people suffered minor injuries and the four-year-old ship lost all engine power, said a spokesman for its owner, V Ships of Monaco.
It was sailing from Sardinia, on a voyage from Tunis to Barcelona.
The spokesman said the crew were battling to restore engine power and a liquefied gas tanker was on the scene after receiving the distress call.
A high wave smashing through the windows of the bridge and damaging electronics is thought to have caused the power cut.
Two tugs – one Spanish and one French – were travelling to the stricken vessel and were planning to tow it into a French port.
The V Ships spokesman said they would be there within 14 hours.
Several aircraft have also been sent to the scene.
Most of the passengers were Spanish and the ship was chartered to a Barcelona cruise firm.
