Cunard’s cruise ship Queen Anne was delayed by more than four hours leaving Southampton after a gas leak false alarm sparked an evacuation.
The luxury liner had been due to depart at 4pm on Monday after completing an 11-day Norwegian Fjords cruise, but the ship’s departure was pushed back until 8.30pm following the incident near Ocean Cruise Terminal.
Dock Gates 4 and 5 were evacuated shortly after midday after reports of a smell of gas in the Eastern Docks area.
READ MORE: Southampton gas leak evacuation revealed to be false alarm
The incident caused severe congestion around the port, with passengers forced to leave taxis and walk to terminals with luggage as emergency measures were put in place.
ABP temporarily halted operations while engineers investigated the suspected leak.
Passengers described scenes of 'absolute chaos' as thousands attempted to board cruise ships throughout the afternoon.
SGN later confirmed the incident had been a false alarm and said there was no gas mains connection near the terminal.
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