Passengers hurt as cruise ship lists heavily off Florida coast

MIAMI - A cruise ship listed heavily after leaving Port Canaveral in central Florida today, injuring about 30 people who were flung across decks.

The US Coast Guard attributed the tilt to a problem with the Crown Princess' steering mechanism and said it was not yet clear how far the ship had listed. But those aboard the vessel, which has a capacity of 4800 passengers and crew, said it leaned dramatically.

"The ship actually tilted all the way down, all the way down, water came out of the pool... people were all flying and hitting the glass," passenger Al Selmani told Miami's WSVN TV.

"The ship was actually going to flip over all the way... everybody was panicking, everybody was crying, chairs were falling everywhere. I mean, it looked like the ship was going down."

The ship is operated by Princess Cruises, a Santa Clarita, California-based unit of Carnival Corp, which issued a statement saying the ship was "safe and seaworthy."

A spokeswoman for the Canaveral Port Authority said the port was told to prepare for 50 injured people. "I'm hearing about 30," said Coast Guard spokesman James Judge, when asked to confirm the injury toll.

The statement on the company's website said: "Initial reports are that a number of passengers did sustain serious injuries. There are also numerous reports of injuries such as cuts, bruises and fractures."

As the Crown Princess headed into Port Canaveral, passengers wearing life jackets could be seen on deck. The ship was escorted by Coast Guard vessels and ambulances and emergency vehicles lined the dock, waiting to pick up the injured.

Two helicopters also stood by, waiting to take the most seriously injured to hospitals.

Crown Princess was launched just last month.

Earlier the Port Canaveral captain had issued an order to the ship to stay offshore until inspectors can determine if the vessel is safe to enter the port, Brzuska said.

"We don't want it to have another steering casualty in the port," he said.

Crown Princess was launched just last month.

- REUTERS