FERRY SCARY
»»lorries topple over as winds cause ‘big dip’ on sea crossing to scotland »»thousands affected by power cuts as crews work through the night
LORRIES carrying Christmas turkeys were caught up in a “major incident” that saw trucks flipped over in stormy seas yesterday.
Vehicles travelling from Larne to Cairnryan were upended after what one driver described as a “big dip” midway through the journey.
Pictures from the Scottish port showed cars, including a Cork-registered Audi, crushed.
Images also appeared to show a damaged coach, although no one was injured in the incident.
The ferry crossing came amid a Yellow Warning for wind and rain from 3am until 9am yesterday. Emergency services were called out at around 7.40am. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is “liaising closely” with those involved to determine the circumstances of the “cargo shift” onboard the vessel.
Lorry driver Niall Mcerlean told BBC Scotland: “We got on the ferry about half four and it was a wee bit rough and choppy coming along.
“About halfway across it sort of went into a big dip and came back out of it and that is when all the wrecking took place. After that the boat was sort of capsizing over a wee bit.”
Asked if he thought the ferry was going to topple over, he replied: “We thought she was away at that time. “It happened that quick that people didn’t know what was taking place and everybody was nervous and afraid if we were going on over. There was a lot of panic going on. “I don’t know why P&O sailed because it was giving out for a storm. Maybe they shouldn’t have sailed.”
P&O Ferries said in a statement: “In extreme weather conditions a number of vehicles have moved position on the decks causing damage onboard. “All passengers and crew are safely accounted for, there are no reports of injuries and the emergency services are in attendance.”
Meanwhile, at least 6,000 properties were left without power yesterday after the high winds wreaked havoc.
ESB Networks say Wicklow and Carlow were the worst counties hit.
Faults have occurred in the Aughrim area of Wicklow, in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Mohill, Co Leitrim, Boyle, Co Roscommon and Sutton, Co Dublin, among others.
Crews have been deployed by ESB and the company hoped to restore power to all affected areas by this afternoon.
Number of properties affected by power cuts in at least five counties