A large cruise ship with 4,500 passengers drifted in the Irish Sea for nine hours after its engine failed.
The Caribbean Princess lost power off the coast of Dublin and was forced to cancel a scheduled visit to Dublin Port due to the seriousness of the incident.
The 290 metre long cruise ship was left adrift 25 miles southeast of Dublin along the Wicklow coast on Wednesday August 3.
It was initially reported that there were fears of a terrorist attack but Princess Cruises the US company that runs the vessel said that it was a “technical glitch”.
The Holyhead Coast Guard sent a tug and helicopter to the ship when it lost power with 3,306 passengers and 1,158 crew on board.
In a statement Princess Cruises said that “all guests and crew are safe and secure” and that the ship still had some power as air conditioning, lights and hotel services worked while the ship was adrift.
The ship was en route from Cobh in Cork to Dublin as part of a 12 day cruise that left Southampton on July 31.
After the delay in Dublin, the ship headed towards Belfast to continue the cruise.
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Source: Irish Independent
