Detained Silversea Ship Allowed To Leave Port

Silversea Cruises' adventure vessel Prince Albert II was detained in Portsmouth yesterday by maritime authorities. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency acted after concerns were raised about overloading and the recording of rest hours for senior staff. The 132-passenger ship, operated by V Ships Leisure based in Monaco, had been due to leave the south coast port at 20.00 last night and finally left at midnight. MCA area operations manager survey and inspections Richard Pellew said: "The safety aspect of the ship and those who are on board is always our primary concern."The inspection of the Prince Albert II has raised two areas of of concern; overloading and the recording of hours of rest for senior officers. "The MCA has zero tolerance on crew fatigue, it is of grave concern that senior officers on board are seemingly not getting sufficient rest." A spokesman said this morning that the vessel had been allowed to leave Portsmouth to Fowey as part of a round-Britain cruise after carrying out corrective action over the stability of the ship. "If it shows the same occurance is happening, we will look at it again," he said. Silversea was not in a position to comment this morning but said a statement would be issued later today.