Fred Olsen in the news again...but
- 11 October 2010 16:1074519for all the wrong reasons.
Yes our rather unfortunate cruise liner, The Balmoral, a regular user of the Port of Dover, is making headlines again, but as I stated there for all the wrong reasons...
Here she is recently in the harbour being manoeuvred by tugs.
The BBC is reporting that she has lost a passenger overboard somewhere in the English Channel as she made her way back to Dover earlier this afternoon following an Adriatic Cruise. She was previously if Im remembering correctly, hit by that illness bug and by unfortunate injuries to passengers when beaten by large waves in the med, plus other assorted mishaps. No doubt there will be more later but lets hope she finds that passenger.
The French Coastguard and the Royal Navy are helping in the search.email: dover7@msn.com - 11 October 2010 17:4774539We were on a couple of years ago when the top lounge (above the bridge) was closed when a wave came over the top. Following that a few days later a crew member had to be helicoptered off at night for a medical emergency- fortunately the ship was going fairly slow as one engine refused to start for 3 days, so we ended up missing two calls and returning to Southampton instead of Dover.
Hope this story ends well but suspect not if the person really is missing. - 12 October 2010 07:1074608Yes I remember that news story Ray, pretty horrific. It seems the ship encountered similar waves this time too, as according to the latest info it was extremely rough, presumably round the notorious Bay of Biscay area which it had to travel through.
Are cruises this time of the year a good idea??
They did not find the lost passenger.
The ship is now safely nestled here in Dover over at terminal 2.email: dover7@msn.com
