Hundreds evacuated from trapped luxury cruise ship
Monday, 05 May 2008 14:32
The ship is lying about 18 km from the coast.
More than 700 people have been evacuated from a luxury cruise ship trapped on a sandbank near Latvia.
Tugs failed to free the Bahamas-registered Mona Lisa overnight after it ran aground yesterday. It got stuck in the Irbe Strait, a main route from the Baltic Sea to the port of the Latvian capital Riga.
Coastguard officials insist there is no immediate risk the passengers, most of whom are German.
Six Latvian vessels and one from Sweden are involved in the evacuation.
Passengers were being taken to the port of Ventspils, about 23 miles away, where they would get medical attention if needed.
About 984 people are aboard the ship, 747 of them passengers. Not all of the crew are being evacuated.
The Mona Lisa was sailing from the Polish port of Gdansk to Riga when it hit the sandbank.
It is not yet clear how the ship came to run aground. The ship is operated by the Lord Nelson-Seereisen German tour company.