NO STEAM AHEAD
A CRUISE ship passenger told of his holiday hell last night after the boat got stuck in the Atlantic with no power.
About 1800 passengers and 800 crew were left without facilities, including toilets and hot food, aboard the 69,000-ton P&O Cruises vessel Oriana.
While most services were restored yesterday, the ship was unable to move due to the breakdown.
Passengers Frank and Liz CRUISE passengers on board P&O liner Oriana, below, were left stranded in the Atlantic after a power failure cut services on the vessel LA CORUNA BY VIVIENNE AITKEN v.aitken@dailyrecord.co.uk TENERIFE Aitken, from Ayrshire, had just finished breakfast when the lights went out.
Frank, 65, a retired fingerprint expert, said: “We’ve been sitting floating in the Atlantic for hours. All the toilets are unusable as they are worked by electricity. There are lots of elderly people on board. Many are stuck in their cabins.”
The Oriana is the oldest liner in P&O’s fleet and is due to be LISBON taken out of service in August. It sailed from Tenerife on January 1 and was due to arrive in La Coruna, Spain, today. Last night the boat started sailing towards nearby Lisbon for assistance.
A P&O Cruises spokesman said: “Oriana had a temporary loss of propulsion following a technical issue which is being investigated by the team on board. All guest services are now working as normal.”