Terror on the high seas

A retired Berriew couple have described their frightening experience on board a cruise ship which was hit by a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay at the weekend.

Peter and Elaine Webber were on a two-week Canaries Cruise with Saga Cruises when they were caught up in the drama at sea, which left 100 passengers with injuries.

The Spirit of Discovery was hit by a huge wave while Peter and Elaine were about to have a meal in their cabin. Peter, 88, who was seated, was sent flying across the cabin with a table and chairs, while Elaine was thrown head first onto the bed and, fortunately, escaped injury.

“I received a gash on my leg as I was thrown across the cabin with our lunch and I ended up on the deck of the boat and couldn’t move until a cabin assistant came and lifted me up,” said Peter, former owner of cancer diagnostics company CellPath in Newtown. “All in all, it was a scary and harrowing experience.

“If we had been forced to abandon ship, there is no way we could have been rescued from that sea. The crew did their best and they couldn’t control the weather, but I think the captain could have made different decisions because we were tracking the ship’s route.

“We missed out on the last island and lost four days of our 14-day cruise because of the storm. I learned at school about the terror of the Bay of Biscay but I never thought I would live to experience it!”

In a letter of apology to Mr and Mrs Webber, Nigel Blanks, Saga Cruises chief executive, stated that the ship was heading to Las Palmas when the captain decided to change direction to La Coruna to get ahead of the approaching storm. Subsequently, he was informed that La Coruna port was closing due to the worsening weather conditions.

The captain decided to head back to the UK earlier than planned to avoid the storm, whilst accepting that there would be challenging conditions crossing the Bay of Biscay.

However, at around 12.20pm on Saturday, the propulsion safety system activated, causing the ship to turn suddenly and come to a halt. “I understand it was at this time that a number of guests sustained injuries which was very sorry to hear about,” wrote Mr Blanks.

“The master then took the correct decision to hold our position until the conditions improved sufficiently for us to continue our journey back to the UK.

“I appreciate it was an extremely frightening time but I wanted to reassure you that the ship itself remained safe.”

Saga Cruises has promised to get back to passengers with details of a compensation package by the end of this week.

The BBC reported that around 100 people were injured, with five people taken to hospital when the ship docked in Portsmouth on Monday. Some of the passengers said they feared for their lives.

PICTURE: The lull before the storm - Peter and Elaine Webber enjoying a meal on their cruise before the storm hit.