Three crew were killed when a luxury cruise liner carrying nearly 1,500 passengers slammed into a pier as it docked in Egypt today.

Italian shipping line Costa Crociera said passengers were being put up in hotels and arrangements were being made to return them to their home countries, according to the company.

Witnesses said fierce winds had rocked the area overnight and the ship was slammed part way onto the pier in Sharm el-Sheik.

Bad weather was believed to be the cause of the collision, which left a six foot hole in the hull.

The Costa Europa ship had been on an 18-day cruise from Dubai to Savona and had 1,437 guests on board, Italy.

Police said the three killed include an Indian, a Brazilian and a Honduran.

The 55,000-ton ship, built in 1986, was restored and entered into service with Costa in 2002, the company said.

It is one of 16 cruise ships belonging to the Costa Crociera line, the Italian subsidiary of Carnival.