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Normandie incident from Lloyds List
The 1,400 passengers aboard a Brittany Ferries car ferry had a serious fright when the vessel veered violently to starboard and took on a heavy list half an hour after leaving the French port of Caen-Ouistreham, writes Andrew Spurrier in Paris.
Members of the crew of the 1992-built Normandie were reported to have told passengers that the vessel had taken on a 35 degree list at one point, causing cars and motorcycles to slide out of position and bottles and crockery to fall and smash in the restaurant and store.
Brittany Ferries chief executive Jean-Michel Giguet told Lloyd's List yesterday the incident was caused by an as yet unexplained breakdown in the ship's automatic steering.
He said the master reacted immediately, taking the vessel back under manual control and correcting its course.
Passengers complained that they were given insufficient information about the incident, which took place on the 17:00 Caen-Ouistreham to Portsmouth sailing on Monday.
Mr Giguet acknowledged that the master had not addressed passengers until two hours after the incident but said he needed time to understand what had happened before doing so.
Mr Giguet insisted that the vessel had at no time been in danger of capsizing, even if the list taken on had appeared impressive to passengers.
"At no time was the security of passengers in danger," he added. He said there had been no reports of injuries to passengers and damage to vehicles had been limited to 12 motorcycles and one car.
Passenger Bill Perry, 53, said he felt the vessel turn sharply and then start to tilt. "It just kept going," he said. "I lost completely my view of the sky. All I could see was sea and it kept going. People panicked. People were screaming.
"Passengers were not happy and told the crew so," said Mr Perry, who was returning home to the Taunton area after a weekend visit to Lisieux with a 32-strong party from a badminton club.
"After about three hours the French captain made an apology over the public address system but gave no more explanation," he said.
The company is conducting an internal investigation into the cause of the automatic steering failure, although Mr Giguet said that it was company policy to change this piece of equipment every two years.
Members of the crew of the 1992-built Normandie were reported to have told passengers that the vessel had taken on a 35 degree list at one point, causing cars and motorcycles to slide out of position and bottles and crockery to fall and smash in the restaurant and store.
Brittany Ferries chief executive Jean-Michel Giguet told Lloyd's List yesterday the incident was caused by an as yet unexplained breakdown in the ship's automatic steering.
He said the master reacted immediately, taking the vessel back under manual control and correcting its course.
Passengers complained that they were given insufficient information about the incident, which took place on the 17:00 Caen-Ouistreham to Portsmouth sailing on Monday.
Mr Giguet acknowledged that the master had not addressed passengers until two hours after the incident but said he needed time to understand what had happened before doing so.
Mr Giguet insisted that the vessel had at no time been in danger of capsizing, even if the list taken on had appeared impressive to passengers.
"At no time was the security of passengers in danger," he added. He said there had been no reports of injuries to passengers and damage to vehicles had been limited to 12 motorcycles and one car.
Passenger Bill Perry, 53, said he felt the vessel turn sharply and then start to tilt. "It just kept going," he said. "I lost completely my view of the sky. All I could see was sea and it kept going. People panicked. People were screaming.
"Passengers were not happy and told the crew so," said Mr Perry, who was returning home to the Taunton area after a weekend visit to Lisieux with a 32-strong party from a badminton club.
"After about three hours the French captain made an apology over the public address system but gave no more explanation," he said.
The company is conducting an internal investigation into the cause of the automatic steering failure, although Mr Giguet said that it was company policy to change this piece of equipment every two years.
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