Gale Force Wave Injures Three On Oriana

A 40-ft. (13 m) wave hit P&O's flagship cruise ship Thursday night during a severe gale in the Atlantic, slightly injuring three of the 2,325 people aboard, the company said.

The 10-deck, 69,000-ton Oriana, which entered service in 1995, was bound for Southampton from New York and was approximately 600 miles west of Cork, Ireland when the wave struck late on Thursday during a force 10 gale, smashing several windows and flooding cabins.

The three injured passengers were cut by broken glass. Another four of the 1,525 passengers and 800 crew needed treatment for shock after the incident, P&O said.

"Three passengers have been treated for lacerations from flying glass. The vessel has been repaired overnight at sea and is on her way back to Southampton now," a company spokeswoman said.

"We think it will be back in Southampton late (on Saturday) night," she added, saying that damage was confined to six cabins on the lower decks but that the extent of the damage sustained by the ship was unclear.