A British couple were left terrified after their cruise ship lost power, leaving them stranded in the North Sea just days before Christmas.
The Norwegian cruise ship takes tourists along Norway’s coast, having departed from Tilbury Docks on December 9.
Brian and Carole Launder were onboard to celebrate Carole’s 70th birthday with their first cruise. They were enjoying their time until a storm started.
The MS Maud had cut its tour short to avoid the storm but strong winds caught up and tall waves wiped out the ship’s power and navigation equipment on December 21.
Brian saw waves reaching their cabin window despite being on deck five and saw water running down the corridors.
The couple are still aboard the cruise ship but are being towed back to Bremerhaven where they hope to fly back to the UK in time for Christmas.
“The cruise had to be cut short as they had to cut through the storm,” Brian, from Richmond in North Yorkshire, said. “We spent lots of hours not moving with no power. At one stage they were getting the lifeboats ready.
“We were talking to the officers and they estimated the waves were 15 to 20 metres. The waves were coming up to our window on deck five. We were worried when the water came through the door.
“My wife was so calm, she was helping this lady. She got her sorted out. We were worried we’d be here for Christmas, we didn’t know what would happen. We lost power on the engines.
“We lost all the communications and navigation. The captain’s in the lounge. A fishing boat came on side and was trying to help with communication.
“There was a gingerbread house knocked over. There was a table smashed. There were chairs damaged, tables on the floors, general bent things.
“There was only one person injured thankfully. She had a baby in her arms but she went flying. The captain had to move the bridge to the passenger lounge due to three windows blown out by a wave.”
The ship is being steered from the engine room. There’s a rescue ship alongside providing navigation.
“Apart from the drama we’ve actually quite enjoyed it,” the grandad-of-four added. “We’ve never been on a cruise ship before. I’d definitely go on one again, the crew have been fantastic.”
“It went in and around all the passages in Norway and all the small places where big cruise ships can’t go.”
Brian and Carole travelled to Hamburg at 3am today for an early morning flight to Frankfurt and then finally back to the UK. The couple will land at Heathrow at 3.45pm but worry they won’t get back to their son’s home in time for Christmas Day.
