British tourists ‘left in tears’ after P&O cruise ship crashes into oil tanker
Panicked British tourists on board the P&O ship that crashed into an oil tanker in Majorca say they were left in tears.
The packed cruise ship broke free from its moorings in Palma and collided with the smaller vessel nearby yesterday morning after a storm hit the island.
Some of the thousands of Brits on board were left with minor injuries and were being cared for by medical staff, P&O said.
The £473 million boat, called the Britannia, remained in Palma overnight while the damage was being assessed.
Passengers said they heard a large bang when the crash happened at around 11am and saw debris floating in the water. The captain then went on the ship’s loudspeaker to say ‘this is not a drill’.
Speaking yesterday, one woman onboard the ship with her partner and two children told Wales Online: ‘We were docked overnight in Palma and the wind was so strong our anchors broke and we blew out into another ship.
‘We were up browsing on our phones in bed and heard the big horn after the bang. It was panic stations, I was bawling my eyes out.’
Another passenger, Gary McGuinness, told The Mirror he and his seven-year-old daughter Kasey had stepped off the ship to go out for the day when he noticed a ‘wall of water and wind’ heading towards them down a concrete jetty.
‘It looked like a sort of ferocity that you would be unable to stand up in,’ he said.
The pair then went back onto the ship, and according to Gary, ‘about eight seconds later’ the boat broke free of its moorings.
He thinks the walkway they had just stepped across may have fallen into the sea.
A witness, meanwhile, described seeing the ship ‘carried to the other side of the harbour like it was a straw’.
‘Something must surely have been damaged. It went like a missile to the other side.’
A spokesperson for P&O Cruises, owned by Carnival, said yesterday: ‘P&O Cruises Britannia was involved in a weather-related incident while alongside in Palma de Mallorca.
‘A small number of individuals sustained minor injuries and are being cared for by the onboard medical centre.
‘To allow our technical teams to make an assessment Britannia will remain alongside in Palma de Mallorca tonight with onboard entertainment and activities scheduled.’
The Britannia set sail from Southampton on August 18 for a Mediterranean cruise.
The ship can carry up to 3,647 passengers and 1,350 crew, is 330 metres long and weighs 143,000 tonnes, according to the company’s website.
Heavy rains have swept across parts of the Balearic Islands, including Mallorca, and Catalonia in northeastern Spain.
Flights from Barcelona airport were delayed throughout Sunday because of the high winds.
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