A British cruise ship, Saga’s Spirit of Discovery was forced to cut short a cruise returning to the UK on Monday with reports of as many as 15 percent of the passengers aboard having been injured and five taken as a precaution to hospitals. The 58,250 gross ton cruise ship was caught in a fierce Bay of Biscay storm taking the unusual step of going “hove to” in the storm to reduce further injuries and danger for the passengers.

The 774-foot cruise ship, which was built in 2019, was on a two-week trip from Portsmouth, England to the Canary Islands. Reports are that she was carrying 980 passengers. Saga operates cruises for adults only with a minimum age of 50 and reports were that the average age of the passengers aboard this cruise was 75.

The ship had completed most of its trip, although it was forced to forgo a stop at Las Palmas due to the worsening weather. The cruise ship had planned to make a port call in La Corona in northwest Spain on November 5, but it was forces to skip that stop as well when the port closed due to the bad weather. Saturday night, Spanish authorities are reporting they recorded the highest wave determined by an average of a 30-minute period as opposed to a single rogue wave. They set the height at approximately 45 feet along the coast saying it was the highest in 27 years of recording at the Estaca de Bares buoy.

Source: maritime-executive.com