Passengers hoping to return from a Norwegian cruise are stuck on a ship which has been prevented from docking in Liverpool due to bad weather.
There are 414 British passengers on board the Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ (CMV) chartered ship Funchal which was returning to Bristol Avonmouth from Bergen.
The vessel was diverted to Liverpool due to adverse sea conditions with the hope that it would dock yesterday evening and spend the night moored up.
However, the impact of the tail end of Hurricane Gonzalo, which has disrupted flights and ferries across much of the UK, prevented Funchal from getting into the port.
CMV said that “due to the deteriorating overnight weather conditions and strong winds it has been deemed unsafe and dangerous to enter the port and also to embark a pilot and bring the ship into the port until the conditions improve.
”We have now received an updated weather forecast and have been advised of a revised arrival time into Liverpool of 9.30 tomorrow morning (Wednesday) with conditions forecast to improve. ”
Passengers due to be joining Funchal’s next cruise to the Canary Islands have been told they will now be joining the ship in Liverpool tomorrow for a revised eight-night itinerary with a return flight from Lisbon to the UK.
CMV commercial director, Chris Coates, said: “In liaison with our agent and port authorities we have done everything we can to expedite Funchal’s arrival into Liverpool with the comfort and safety of our passengers our top priority.
“We took the decision yesterday to re-route Funchal and finish the cruise in Liverpool to seek shelter and alleviate and avoid the very heavy seas on our final passage to Avonmouth.
“Our passengers have been fully updated of the situation.”