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UPDATED: Titanic memorial cruise back on course after emergency

The Titanic memorial cruise is back on course after a BBC cameraman had to be airlifted off the ship Balmoral due to illness.


The Fred Olsen ship chartered by travel agent Miles Morgan was forced to take a detour to enable the 56 year old man to be taken off by helicopter.


The BBC said Tim Rex was airlifted off the vessel as a medical precaution. Balmoral, which left Southampton on Sunday, had headed back towards the Irish coast to allow the rescue to take place.


The ship is still expected to arrive at the Titanic wreck site in time for scheduled memorial services at the weekend.


Balmoral left Southampton on Sunday, travelling near Cherbourg in France and stopping off at Cobh in Ireland, before setting off for the North Atlantic spot where Titanic went down.


The 12-night cruise is recreating Titanic’s original voyage 100 years ago with more than 1,300 passengers on board including relatives of those who died, authors and historians.


A joint statement from the Titanic memorial cruse and Fred Olsen said: “The guest airlifted from the Titanic Memorial Cruise has left the ship via the Irish Coast Guard and is expected to receive hospital treatment very shortly.


“The ship, Fred Olsen’s Balmoral, has turned around and resumed its scheduled itinerary. Fred Olsen and Titanic Memorial Cruises send their best wishes to the guest for a comfortable and speedy recovery.”


The Titanic memorial cruise scheduled to call in Halifax, Canada on April 16 and arrive in New York on April 19.


It is one of two cruises organised by Morgan, who owns a chain of independent travel agencies, to commemorate 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912.


A second Titanic Memorial Cruise is due to set sail out of New York at 5pm today US-time with 440 pasengers on board. The eight-night cruise on board cruise ship Azamara Journey is due to meet the Balmoral at the site the Titanic sank for a special memorial service on April 14, 100 years after the ship hit an ice-berg.

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