P&O ferry European Causeway docks after losing power in Irish Sea

Image source, PAcemaker Image caption,

The European Causeway is docked at the Port of Larne

A P&O ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland has regained power after spending hours adrift in the Irish Sea.

The European Causeway, which can carry up to 410 passengers, has docked at Larne Harbour.

It left Cairnryan at about 12:00 BST and was due to arrive at Larne Harbour at 14:00 but got into trouble at 13:30.

P&O said the incident was caused by a “temporary mechanical issue” that had been resolved and a full independent inspection would take place at Larne.

It returned to port “under its own propulsion, with local tugs on standby, where it will discharge its passengers and cargo as planned,” said a P&O spokesperson.

No injuries have been reported and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) told the BBC there were no concerns over the safety of passengers.

By Grainne Connolly at Larne Port

I was expecting European Causeway passengers to be disgruntled after being stuck for hours at sea.

But many I spoke to as they came off the ferry said the situation remained calm on board.

They praised staff for keeping them informed.

Passenger Tommy Goodwin said it had been “quite nerve-wracking” when the ship suddenly stopped.

“The captain did make a couple of announcements to let us know it was the engines,” he said.

“The crew were very helpful – they had a good grasp on the situation.”

At one point, Mr Goodwin thought passengers were going to be airlifted off the boat.

“There were helicopters out… we thought we were going to have to be rescued if the engines didn’t pick up.”

On Tuesday afternoon, RNLI lifeboats from Larne and Red Bay were launched and tugs from Larne and Belfast were also deployed to guide the ferry back to port.

The Queen Victoria cruise ship, operated by Cunard, had been standing by in case further support was needed, along with a coastguard helicopter from Prestwick, Scotland.

Image source, PAcemaker Image caption,

A coastguard helicopter and RNLI lifeboats were sent to the help the European Causeway

Ship tracking websites earlier showed the vessel’s automatic identification system (AIS) status as set to “Not Under Command”.

That status is reserved for use when a vessel, “through some exceptional circumstance is unable to manoeuvre as required by these rules and is therefore unable to keep out of the way of another vessel”.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ Union (RMT) said the reports were “deeply concerning, not least for the agency crew and passengers onboard”.

Safety concerns

P&O has experienced difficulties in the last few months, having sacked 800 of its workers across the UK without notice.

The European Causeway was held in Larne by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) from 25 March after an inspection raised safety concerns.

Although P&O recruited new staff, the MCA detained the European Causeway saying it was concerned about “failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training”.

The 22-year-old ship was not cleared to sail until April 8 following another examination.

Passenger Jonny Wilson told the BBC News NI he and his family were in the middle of watching Peter Rabbit 2 board when the power went off.

“The emergency lights go on. Different bits of the ship were dark. Slowly we came to a stop. They put the anchors down and we just sat there,” he said.

They were told at about 13:45 the problem would be resolved in about 10 minutes.

Image source, Jonny Wilson Image caption,

A coastguard lifeboat and helicopter came to the assistance of the P&O ferry, while the Queen Victoria cruise ship (background) was also standing by to offer help

“By about 14:15 we were still there, so that was about an hour.

“They said initially it was an issue with engines. After that, about 14:15 they said they couldn’t restore power, that they had called the coastguard,” he explained.

Mr Wilson said his children, five-year-old Sophia and two-year-old Aiden, were OK throughout the whole incident, but he said it had been a frustrating experience.

Delayed sailings

P&O has cancelled its 20:00 sailing from Larne to Cairnryan.

In a tweet, the firm said the sailing would not go ahead due to a “technical difficulty”, but passengers would have space on the 19:30 Stena Line service.

Earlier this month, passengers expressed their frustration over the lack of clarity around sailings.

Before passenger routes resumed Louisa Newell had been hoping to sail from Cairnryan to Larne last month to visit her grandmother.

She had not been to Northern Ireland since August 2020.

She did not find out her route had been cancelled until she tweeted them.

“We definitely won’t book with them again,” she added.