THE FUTURE of the Cunard shipping line was in doubt night as one of its most luxurious liners limped into port, ending the holiday of a lifetime of more than 500 passengers.
As an investigation was into why the 37,845 tonne Royal Viking Sun was holed after hitting a reef in the Red Sea, the company was making arrangements for the swift return home of those who had paid more than £21,000 sterling for the 114 day world cruise.
Cunard tried desperately to limit the public relations disaster which beset its ill fated "cruise from hell" in December 1994 when the QE2 sailed from Southampton to New York with a refurbishment incomplete. Then Cunard managers accused unhappy passengers of "whingeing".
But the accident was unfortunate timing for the cruise line, coming only hours after the announcement that a £904 million offer from the Norwegian company, Kvaerner, for Cunard's parent company Trafalgar House had been accepted by shareholders. Cunard is thought likely to be put on the market by its new owners.
Nobody was injured in the incident in the Strait of Tiran on Thursday, although a 73 year old man suffering from kidney problems was airlifted to hospital for treatment.
But emergency procedures were instigated as the ship began taking on water and listing. Passengers and the 450 crew were forced to don life jackets and go to lifeboat stations.
An operator at the international control centre in Stavanger, Norway, which controlled the rescue, said engine power was lost after the collision and pumps were used to expel the water and put the ship back on an even keel. "It must have been rather frightening for a time," he said.
The ship was towed to safety in the Egyptian port of Sharm el Sheikh. A newly finished Marriott hotel in Sharm el Sheikh opened three days early to take more than 100 of the evacuees. Other luxury hotels, both in the port and in Cairo, were on standby to receive the passengers, of whom 54 were British, 350 American, 70 German and 27 from Asian Pacific countries.
Details were being finalised last night for their return to Europe today, where the Americans will make connecting flights home.
The Royal Viking Sun, rated the number one cruise liner in the world by the Berlitz travel guide, has luxury facilities including cabins with whirlpools, gold and mahogany fittings, theatres, spas, butler service and a computerised golf course.
The cruise began in Florida on January 6th and was due to take in 36 ports including Bangkok Mombasa, Fiji and the Seychelles.
. An English couple seized on their yacht by Eritrean soldiers as they sailed through the Red Sea have been released. Peter (64) and Shirley Billing (61) of Wokingham, southern England, were arrested on March 21st.
"The Eritrean authorities said that they'd detained the couple because they'd entered Eritrean waters without permission and they had sailed close to the Hanish islands, which are disputed territory. So they detained and questioned them and released them when the Billings satisfied them," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.