DAMAGED luxury cruise liner Oriana is due to limp into Southampton early tomorrow.

P&O's Oriana was due to slip her moorings at Southampton's Mayflower terminal for a 12-night cruise around the Canary Islands tonight.

But delays on the journey from New York for the crew to carry out running repairs to the 62,000-tonne vessel after she was hit by a 40ft wave mean that she will not leave her home port until tomorrow evening at the earliest.

Passengers for the cruise to Madeira, Tenerife, Fuerteventu-ra, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Lisbon, and Vigo, will now only be on board for 11 days.

The P&O ship, carrying 1,525 passengers and 800 crew, had to come to a standstill while welding to outside cabins was carried out in the Atlantic 600 miles west of Cork, south west Ireland.

It was caught in mountainous seas when it went to the assistance of a yacht in trouble.

Three passengers and a member of crew were treated for cuts caused by flying glass.

A P&O spokesperson said: "The ship will not now arrive in Southampton until after 8pm on Saturday, after the time the next cruise was due to leave. As many of those on board have a long way to travel from Southampton they will have the chance to stay on board on Saturday night.

"The cruise to the Canary Islands will now not set sail until 24 hours later, on Sunday evening and one of the stops will have to be removed from the itinerary.

"All customers will be offered compensation."

Passengers on board the luxury cruise liner Oriana told how the professionalism of the crew kept the atmosphere calm when a 50ft wave crashed through cabin windows, injuring four people on board. Three passengers and an officer were cut by flying glass and received treatment in the ship's hospital, along with four other passengers who were suffering from shock.

The 69,000-tonne ship was on her first north Atlantic trip to and from New York, although she has sailed to the Caribbean many times.

A P&O spokesman said: "At no time were the ship or her passengers in danger. Passengers who suffered minor injuries and shock were treated by the ship's medical staff and have been released from hospital."

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