At least 100 passengers due to board Cunard's Queen Anne cruise ship have been left stranded in Southampton after a gas leak forced the closure of part of the port. The incident occurred at Dock Gates 4 and 5 just hours before the ship was scheduled to depart at 4pm on an 18-night voyage to Greece, the Adriatic, and the Western Mediterranean.
Passengers described the situation as “complete chaos.” Susan Drecksler, 72, and her husband Lawrence, 77, who has Parkinson’s disease, were among those affected. Mrs Drecksler said: “The whole point of coming to Southampton is you get dropped off, they put you in a wheelchair. We can’t walk. Somehow we have to get some assistance. It’s complete chaos.”
The couple, who were celebrating their 20th anniversary, are now stuck in a hotel with no clear timeline. “First they said it could be half an hour, now they’re saying three to four,” Mrs Drecksler added. Long queues of traffic have built up on surrounding roads, including West Quay Road and the Itchen Bridge.
Associated British Ports (ABP), which runs Southampton Port, confirmed the leak was adjacent to the Ocean Cruise Terminal. An ABP spokesperson said: “We are working at pace to address this situation and reopen access as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”
Southampton City Council stated that both gates have been evacuated and an engineer is currently inspecting the leak. The Queen Anne had just returned from a trip to the Norwegian fjords and northern Europe.
