Spirit of Discovery: SAGA cruise passenger killed, more than 100 wounded after storm batters ship

A SAGA cruise passenger was killed and more than 100 wounded after a storm battered their ship.

The Spirit of Discovery liner was travelling back to Britain in November last year when it was lashed by a 30ft wave.

Holidaymakers were ‘screaming for their lives’ as the luxury ship began to veer and shudder in the notorious Bay of Biscay.

Passengers said they were thrown to the ground as the liner was forced to a halt while furniture and crockery flew in every direction.

Eight people were taken to ­hospital once the ship docked in Portsmouth — two days after the storm on November 4.

Now, it has been revealed that a passenger later died of their ­injuries, according to an interim report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

It said that the liner faced force 11 winds and a ‘very high’ sea state after setting off from the Canary Islands on the return leg of a two-week cruise. Conditions were so rough that the ship’s propulsion safety system was activated, causing it to veer suddenly to the left.

The MAIB report said: ‘At about 12.30 on November 4, 2023, the passenger vessel Spirit of Discovery lost propulsion in heavy weather while crossing the Bay of Biscay. This led to the vessel moving violently while the crew restarted the vessel’s propulsion.

‘The propulsion issues, storm force conditions and vessel motions continued until the following morning when Spirit of Discovery was able to continue its passage.

‘During this period, over 100 passengers were injured. Eight of the seriously injured passengers were taken directly to hospital on arrival at Portsmouth, one of whom later died from their injuries.’

At the time, passengers described the ordeal as being like a ‘horror movie’.

Richard Reynolds, 60, who was on board with his wife Jayne and elderly parents, said: ‘Waves were coming up to the fifth-storey windows, people were screaming, and furniture and plates and glass were flying in every direction. I am ex-military and fire service. I have dealt with a lot of traumatic experiences in my career, but this is up there with the worst of them.’

Carol Lake, who was also on board, told the Independent: ‘[I] realised no one in the Bay of Biscay was coming to rescue us if we went over and thought for the first time I wasn’t going to make it.

‘I have had a good life and thought, “This is it then” as I could hear others in alarm around me — and so I turned the television on and watched Strictly.

‘It was like a horror movie outside with the waves going up so high. I just tried to keep a tad of normality in a situation I had absolutely no control over.’

The interim report added that the investigation is nearly complete, and a full report will then be issued for consultation.

A spokesman for Saga said all guests on the trip had been offered a full refund and that it was continuing to work with MAIB.

‘Like a horror movie outside.’