The north of France and the whole of the UK is currently caught in a winter storm, called Ana, carrying rough winds. So much so, that a P&O ferry carrying 300 passengers ran aground in front of the Calais harbour today.
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P&O runs a daily ferry service between the French harbour city of Calais and the UK port of Dover, which is very popular with elder European travellers wanting to see the famous ‘White Cliffs’ and enjoy some shopping in the south of England which is interesting now due to the pound having dropped some 30% versus the euro.
But today, due to the strong winds, the ‘Pride of Kent’, which was bound for Dover around midday, ran aground on a sandbank in the Calais harbour.
The crash comes as storm Ana lashes the English channel with 70mph winds and it is believed the ferry ran aground after a large gust caused it to lose control.
A total of 316 people, of which 208 were paying passengers, were on board at the time.
<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DOVER / CALAIS update: P&O ferry Pride of Kent reportedly collided heavily with a walkway due to high winds before running aground. Vessel is now believed to have been pulled free. No injuries. <a href="https://t.co/YvpaQg3pVN">pic.twitter.com/YvpaQg3pVN</a></p>— Kent 999s (@Kent_999s) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kent_999s/status/939859769917140992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2017</a></blockquote>
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In the video, you can see that tugboats were working anxiously to free the ship as no other boats could leave or enter Calais because of the ferry blocking it. After a few hours, they were successful and the ship could return to port where it will be entered for repairs.
P&O released a statement after the fact, saying: We can confirm that one of our ships ran aground whilst leaving the Port of Calais this afternoon.”
“There are no reported injuries, the ship was re-floated within two hours and we hope to transfer our passengers to an alternative ship as soon as possible."
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5164553/Ferry-runs-aground-Calais-port-France.html
Well, at least you get an adventure if you're on that boat, got something to tell the grandkids.