Three passengers and a crew member on an Isle of Wight ferry were taken to hospital after the upper car deck of the ship collapsed on Friday night.
The mezzanine floor, which was holding nine cars, was being lowered when it dropped about 6ft on to the deck below.
Three people in their cars and a member of crew on the upper deck of the Wightlink ferry St Helen (pictured), carrying 181 passengers and 11 crew, suffered non life-threatening injuries.
Emergency services were called to Fishbourne terminal on the island just before 10.30pm on Friday. Those hurt were taken to hospital in Newport, and were later discharged.
Changes to services on the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route remain in place today (Monday), Wightlink said.
“This is due to the time taken to resolve the problems with St Helen’s mezzanine deck on Friday evening,” the company said.
“As part of the usual disembarkation process, after vehicles on the lower deck had left the ship, the starboard forward mezzanine deck with nine cars on board was lowered. When it was a short distance from the deck below, it dropped a few feet and made contact with the lower deck.
“As a precautionary measure, three passengers and one crew member were taken to St Mary’s Hospital by the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service. All four have been discharged. A member of Wightlink’s management team attended the hospital to support customers.”
Full safety checks on its other ferries were conducted overnight on Friday following the incident.
“As well as conducting its own investigation, Wightlink will be cooperating fully with the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency investigations,” the ferry firm added.
“While those investigations are underway, Wightlink will not be making further comment on the possible cause of the incident.”
The last independent engineering survey of the ship, including its mezzanine decks, took place in May following annual maintenance and a refit, according to Wighlink.