Passenger on cruise ship: Wave ordeal terrifying

mercedes · March 4, 2010

BARCELONA, Spain – Freak waves that smashed into a Mediterranean cruise ship flooded people's cabins, broke windows in a restaurant and terrified many travelers in an ordeal that claimed two lives, a passenger said Thursday.

Claude Cremex, 73, of Marseille, France said he was in his cabin resting because of the rough seas when the walls of water hit the Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty, which was carrying 1,350 passengers and 580 crew members off the coast of northeastern Spain.

The ship's owner and operator, Louis Cruise Lines, said the vessel was struck Wednesday by three "abnormally high" waves more than 33 feet (10 meters) high that broke glass windshields in the forward section.

Two people died and 14 were slightly hurt, the company said.

Cremex said he did not see the waves himself but later viewed the damage.

"It was spectacular," he told The Associated Press as the ship sat docked at Barcelona's port with passengers sunning themselves on deck the day after the accident.

"A lot of water came in. Many cabins were flooded," said Cremex, who was traveling with his wife. "Many people were very frightened."

Louis Cruise Lines spokesman Michael Maratheftis said 14 passengers who suffered only minor injuries were taken to hospital as a precaution.

Arrangements have been made to fly all 1,350 passengers back home Thursday and the ship will carry on with its normal cruise schedule later this month after repairs are completed, he told the AP from Cyprus.

Maratheftis said the two dead passengers suffered fatal injuries from the glass shards and ripped-out window frames and furniture.

"It was three waves, one after the other. The damage was done by the second and the third waves. We are talking about waves that exceeded 10 meters in height. This was unforeseen and unpredicted because the weather was not really that bad," Maratheftis said.

A Louis Cruise Lines statement said the waves smashed windows in a public area on deck 5 on the forward part of the vessel. It said the passengers killed were German and Italian.

The ship was on a 12-day cruise from the ports of Genoa and Marseilles in the western Mediterranean, calling at Tangiers, Casablanca, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Cadiz, Cartagena, Barcelona and had been due to return to Genoa on Thursday.

"Louis Cruises extends its sincere condolences to the families of the two victims and its full support to the injured passengers while expressing its deep sorrow for the incident," the statement said.

Maratheftis said many passengers have already left the ship to return home.

Louis Cruise Lines' Web site says the ship is 680 feet (207 meters) long, and features 10 passenger decks and 732 staterooms along with various bars, pools, restaurants and shops.

JimBenhood · June 29, 2010

This is very sad

news and a tragic incident as well which has taken place very suddenly and the

plane got hit very badly and collapsed due to the bad weather and it damaged

and mutilated. The passengers got injured by this sudden incident and the pilot

could not stop the plane because of slippery route and it fall apart and hit

the fence along the runway. This is a tragic incident and we must condemn this

kind of actions take place in the future as well. We must care the lives of all

human beings and we should make all the precautions and all the possible

arrangements to reduce these kinds of sudden incidents.

This is very sad

news and a tragic incident as well which has taken place very suddenly and the

plane got hit very badly and collapsed due to the bad weather and it damaged

and mutilated. The passengers got injured by this sudden incident and the pilot

could not stop the plane because of slippery route and it fall apart and hit

the fence along the runway. This is a tragic incident and we must condemn this

kind of actions take place in the future as well. We must care the lives of all

human beings and we should make all the precautions and all the possible

arrangements to reduce these kinds of sudden incidents.

JimBenhood · June 29, 2010

This is very sad news and a tragic incident as well which has taken place very suddenly, that the ship got hit very badly and collapsed due to the bad weather and it damaged and mutilated. The passengers got injured by this sudden incident and the captain could not stop the ship because of bad weather andand heavy waves as well.

This is a tragic incident and we must condemn this kind of actions take place in the future as well. We must care the lives of all human beings and we should make all the precautions and all the possible arrangements to reduce these kinds of sudden incidents.

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