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Cruise ship MSC Opera passengers flown home | |
(about 14 hours later) | |
About 400 British passengers have been flown home from Sweden after the cruise ship they were on developed technical problems in the Baltic. | |
Tugs were sent to tow the MSC Opera to port after it lost all electrical power off the island of Gotland on Sunday. | Tugs were sent to tow the MSC Opera to port after it lost all electrical power off the island of Gotland on Sunday. |
Flights were chartered and the British passengers arrived into Bournemouth and Stansted airports on Monday night. | |
The ship left Southampton on 7 May with 1,800 holidaymakers for a trip visiting Copenhagen, Helsinki and St Petersburg. | The ship left Southampton on 7 May with 1,800 holidaymakers for a trip visiting Copenhagen, Helsinki and St Petersburg. |
It had been due back in the UK on Tuesday. | It had been due back in the UK on Tuesday. |
'Total darkness' | |
Geoff Simms, from New Milton, Hampshire, described the last few days of his holiday as "shocking". | |
"People were very fed up and scared as well as we were drifting. | |
"We were in total darkness, the toilets filled up and wouldn't flush for 10 hours. | |
"They didn't give us any information at all." | |
Mike O'Shea, from Bournemouth, had to travel back to Southampton to pick up his car. | |
"It wasn't too bad for the first couple of days, then the generator broke down. | |
"The biggest problem was the toilets. As long as they pay me the full amount they say they will then I'll be quite happy". | |
Fellow passenger Catherine Jardine, from Hebburn, South Tyneside had to spend the night in a hotel in Southampton before travelling home. | |
"It was disgusting, really bad," she added. | |
First-time cruiser Trudie Excell, of the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, praised the staff for organising her return. | |
"The staff have been brilliant, I have got no complaints whatsoever. | |
"A lot of people have come off that ship with a lot of freebies." | |
The ship's Italian-owned operators said the engines had to be switched off. | The ship's Italian-owned operators said the engines had to be switched off. |
Swedish coastguards said MSC Opera was towed to the port of Nynashamn near Stockholm. | Swedish coastguards said MSC Opera was towed to the port of Nynashamn near Stockholm. |
MSC Cruises said it was sorry it could not offer "its usual standards of service". | MSC Cruises said it was sorry it could not offer "its usual standards of service". |
It added that passengers would be given credit vouchers for the full value of their trip. | It added that passengers would be given credit vouchers for the full value of their trip. |
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