Queen Vic leaves

The Cunard cruise liner Queen Victoria left Grand Harbour early this morning after repairs on her stern caused a delay of some 12 hours.

The brand new 90,000 ton liner damaged her stern above the waterline when she hit the quay at Valletta Waterfront as she was about to berth yesterday morning.

The incident, although not serious, forced the ship to cancel her next call, in Tunisia, and she is now proceeding to the following scheduled call, in Gibraltar.

Cunard are considering compensation to the 1,000 mostly British passengers on board.

The accident is thought to have been the result of a throttle failure.