THE wife of a man who died when a freak wave crashed into a cruise ship has claimed that the vessel was “improperly maintained” reports Sky News.
Helen Swinstead said she and her husband James, 85, were sitting by a window on the Marco Polo when the water poured in.
The wave is understood to have hit the ship during the severe storm that hit Britain on Friday, injuring a number of the 735 passengers, who were mainly British.
Sky News reported from the Tilbury Cruise Terminal as the ship returned home. They reported that they could see a number of walking wounded leave the ship.
Mrs Swinstead, from Colchester, told Sky News: “My husband was hit by the window. I think it killed him almost instantly. Four windows blew and the one we were sitting at.”
Her husband died before he could be taken to hospital by air ambulance, she said.
“The ship was badly maintained,” Mrs Swinstead added. “I said to my husband – because my father used to make paint – [the window’s] going to leak because of the rust.
“There was a rusty puddle on the window sill. I think the ship was improperly maintained.
“It had come from Madeira, I think, before we got on it in January, and they had bad storms then. And there’s so much paint on the outside – you probably can’t see the rust.
“They’d just slop some more on whenever we got into port.”
Cruise operator Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV) said it did not want to comment on Mrs Swinstead’s remarks.
After Mr Swinstead’s death, CMV said: “Our thoughts are very much with these passengers and their families during this difficult time.”
