Huge wave damages cruise ship
 

CHARLESTON, S.C. - A seven-story wave damaged a cruise ship returning from the Bahamas over the weekend, smashing windows, flooding more than 60 cabins and injuring four passengers.

The Norwegian Dawn was diverted from its route when the ship ran into rough weather on the way back to New York on Saturday. The 965-foot-long vessel docked in the Charleston harbor for repairs, and departed for New York Sunday after a Coast Guard inspection, officials said. It was expected back in New York by noon today.

"The ship was hit by a freak wave that caused two windows to break in two different cabins," Norwegian Cruise Line said. It said 62 cabins flooded and four passengers had cuts and bruises. The wave reached as high as deck 10 on the ship, company spokeswoman Susan Robison said Sunday.

The ship's hull was damaged but the vessel was not taking on water, said Keith Moore of the Coast Guard Group Charleston.

"All the passengers had donned personal flotation devices as a precaution," Moore told a Charleston newspaper.

The cruise line said passengers whose cabins were flooded were being flown home from Charleston, and the safety of the ship "was in no way compromised by this incident."

Each passenger got a refund of half the trip's cost and a voucher for half the price of a future cruise, Robison said.

The ship left New York April 10 with 2,500 passengers aboard. Robison said about 300 passengers decided not to return by boat.