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Crew injured after UK-bound ferry hit by power blow-out

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
Crew injured after UK-bound ferry hit by power blow-out
Photo: AFP

Two crew members of a UK-bound Brittany Ferries boat were injured, two seriously, after a power blow-out on the vessel.

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The "Normandie" Ferry, carrying 493 passengers and 110 crew from Caen to Portsmouth was stranded 55 kilometres off the coast of France for several hours on Monday evening.

The vessel was hit by power problems at around 5.30pm, not long after leaving the port of Ouistreham on the northern French coast.

According to reports, one crew member suffered burns after trying to fix a problem with a circuit board and another member of staff was left intoxicated by fumes.

An emergency helicopter was dispatched to the boat and the two injured crew members were airlifted to a hospital in Lille. Their condition is unknown.

Meanwhile, tug boats were dispatched to tow the ferry to the French port of Cherbourg, but in the end the Normandie regained power at around 8pm and was able to make the journey independently.

Passengers were forced to spend the night on board, with Brittany Ferries trying to find an alternative option to get them to their destination in the UK.

The company was also forced to cancel Tuesday afternoon's Caen to Portsmouth service due to a “technical problem”.

In a statement to The Local, Brittany Ferries said: "The Normandie suffered an electrical failure to a circuit board. This led to smoke egress within the engine room and power loss for a short period of time.

"After regaining some power, the decision was taken to divert to Cherbourg where the ship docked late last night. Passengers spent the night aboard Normandie before disembarking early this morning. Announcements were made on board, keeping passengers up to date with the situation, and refreshments were served by crew."

The company apologized to passengers for the inconvenience caused by both the power failure and the cancellation of Tuesday's Caen to Portsmouth service.

 

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