Cunard's Queen Victoria has suffered mechanical failure that affected the ships propulsion system, meaning it can only sail with a fraction of its usual speed. With hundreds of passengers on board and 981 crew the ship is currently off the Portuguese coast in the Atlantic Ocean
Queen Victoria will be able to continue the voyage to Southampton safely without the use of one engine or one propeller.
A company spokesman, said: “Cunard needs to carry out some essential maintenance work on Queen Victoria and has therefore taken the regrettable but unavoidable decision to cancel a 16 night Mediterranean voyage due to depart from Southampton on October 3.
“The work relates to one of Queen Victoria's propulsion units. Although there are no safety issues relating to this maintenance, it does preclude the ship achieving the speeds required to deliver the voyage itinerary and therefore it is necessary to take the ship out of service for a short period.”
The dry dock will take place in Bremerhaven in Germany until October 17 with a two night voyage sailing from the city, a spokesman said.
Queen Victoria will then set out on her 23 night Caribbean voyage as brochured on October 19.
Peter Shanks, MD and President of Cunard, said: “We are very sorry to disrupt our passengers' travel plans.
“We are doing all we can to minimise the impact on our passengers and to help everyone affected find suitable alternative holidays.”
