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Scare for passengers as ferry rolls
Ferry passengers were left screaming in terror as the ship they were travelling on lurched dramatically to the side.
The Brittany Ferries vessel MV Normandie had just left the French port of Caen and was making its way to Portsmouth when it suddenly rolled 15 degrees.
Some of the 1,400 passengers travelling on the ferry feared the vessel was about to capsize. They screamed that the ship was about to 'go over' as the horizon disappeared from view.
Plates and glasses slid off tables and smashed on the floor as passengers and staff clung on to avoid falling over.
Passengers today said the French crew failed to tell them what was wrong with the ship. Moments after the incident a standard evacuation drill was played over the public address system.
Nobody was injured but two motorcycles were damaged when they fell over.
Brittany Ferries said in a statement: 'This was due to a failure in the automatic steering system which momentarily over-compensated for a change in course.
'The ship has duplicate steering systems and the back-up was activated almost immediately.
'Regrettably, the announcements following the incident were made neither as quickly, nor as comprehensively, as we would have wished.'
The Brittany Ferries vessel MV Normandie had just left the French port of Caen and was making its way to Portsmouth when it suddenly rolled 15 degrees.
Some of the 1,400 passengers travelling on the ferry feared the vessel was about to capsize. They screamed that the ship was about to 'go over' as the horizon disappeared from view.
Plates and glasses slid off tables and smashed on the floor as passengers and staff clung on to avoid falling over.
Passengers today said the French crew failed to tell them what was wrong with the ship. Moments after the incident a standard evacuation drill was played over the public address system.
Nobody was injured but two motorcycles were damaged when they fell over.
Brittany Ferries said in a statement: 'This was due to a failure in the automatic steering system which momentarily over-compensated for a change in course.
'The ship has duplicate steering systems and the back-up was activated almost immediately.
'Regrettably, the announcements following the incident were made neither as quickly, nor as comprehensively, as we would have wished.'
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