MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cruise liner hit by Pacific storm leaves 40 passengers injured

Pacific Sound looks tranquil after the storm

An estimated 40 passengers were injured when a P&O Cruises ship encountered a storm about 400 miles from New Zealand, officials reported in Auckland.

Passengers were treated for broken bones and minor flesh wounds after the Pacific Sun encountered seven meter swells and strong winds Wednesday night, The Daily Telegraph reported.

A passenger said "anything not nailed down" on the ship, including people, flew through the air as the ship maneuvered through the storm. The ship was traveling to Auckland, New Zealand, from the Pacific islands of Vanuatu with 1,732 passengers and 671 crew members when the storm hit, the newspaper said. New Zealand maritime officials said they were making sure the ship was ready to begin another cruise Saturday. The newspaper said the ship was not severely damaged. P&O Cruises corporate affairs director Sandy Olsen said three passengers with broken bones were taken to a hospital in the northern New Zealand city of Auckland after the ship, the Pacific Sun, docked Friday. Olsen said the vessel was never in danger, although it sustained some "internal damage". Most of those injured suffered cuts and bruises, with some requiring stitches. Several elderly passengers and crew members left the ship with arms bound in slings. In New Zealand, the storm's wind and pounding rain ripped down swathes of trees, cut roads and electricity supplies and flooded tens of thousands of acres of farmland. One person drowned in a flooded stream. The captain had plotted a course from Vanuatu to Auckland to avoid as much of the bad weather as possible, Olsen said, "but on Wednesday evening the weather took a turn for the worse with seven-meter swells and 100-kilometer an hour winds." "Loose items did move around the ship when she did take the sharp turn, but the ship was in no danger," she told New Zealand's National Radio. Technical staff was checking the vessel ahead of its scheduled sailing time Saturday. "She will only sail if she's in good order," Olsen said. As a compensation for the rough moments P&O has offered passengers a 25% discount on their next trip.