The Spirit of Discovery was on a 14-day cruise to the Canary Islands. Along the way, he encountered unfavorable weather conditions, causing his dream trip to turn into a nightmare. The Daily Mail tells us more.
According to the publication, passengers set off on a two-week cruise from the UK on October 24, but on Saturday, October 28, it was decided to abandon the final part of the route and turn back to avoid the approaching storm.
However, adverse weather conditions overtook the ship. The ship encountered a storm while sailing through the Bay of Biscay. In bad weather, the ship’s traffic safety system on board worked, and it stopped abruptly and tilted to the left.
According to media reports, there were about 1,000 passengers on the ship and at least 100 of them received various injuries. Five people were taken to a local hospital upon arrival at the port of Portsmouth.
Richard Reynolds, 60, who was on the ship with his wife and parents, called the voyage one of the most traumatic experiences of his life. According to him, his 84-year-old mother was injured after falling onto the deck of the ship.
“The whole thing was terrible. People were screaming, and furniture, plates, and glass were flying in all directions. I know that other passengers wrote messages to their loved ones because they did not think they would be able to get out of there,” the publication quotes him as saying.
He also said he believes the true number of casualties is closer to 150 than 100.
“There were 980 passengers on board, and we heard that more than 150 people were injured, which is approximately 15 percent of the number of passengers. Their average age was 76 years,” he added.
Richard Reynolds stressed that “exposing passengers to such extreme conditions and then hiding what happened is completely unacceptable.”
Messages about a trip on this ship also began to appear on social networks. One of the users X (ex-Twitter) reported that his parents were also passengers on this ship.
“My elderly parents were on board the Spirit of Discovery. They also survived a terrible storm during which they fell to the floor in the dining room,” the man said in his message.
In response to questions about the decision to return to the UK via the Bay of Biscay, the company said continuing with the original tour or taking an alternative route would have meant “facing the storm head-on”.
“The crew initially planned to dock at La Coruna in north-west Spain but were then informed that the port was closed due to bad weather, and they were forced to continue sailing north and cross the Bay of Biscay on their way to the UK,” the text notes.
After some time, the liner returned safely to the UK. The company’s management apologized to everyone who was hurt during the trip.