Magellan Cruise ShipThe Magellan, a cruise ship operated by U.K. based Cruise and Maritime Voyages, collided with a ferry on River Thames on Thursday.

The collision has been described different ways at different times by different newspapers. The headline of the Clacton Gazette regarding the incident first read Giant cruise ship "nearly sinks" Tilbury passenger ferry, but was later changed to Tilbury passenger ferry "fully operational" after collision with giant cruise ship.

The Clacton Gazette initially reported that "’the gigantic CMV cruise ship Magellan ploughed into the ferry just off its landing jetty at Tilbury Docks." The ferry service was thereafter suspended until safety checks could be performed. 

A passenger who had just disembarked from the ferry, witnessed the collision.

The newspaper quoted him saying: “It was really scary . . . . The ferry should have stayed moored up. After the cruise ship hit her, I thought she was going to turn over. She doesn’t sit well on the water, I thought the wash would turn her over. I was thinking, God, if she sinks, it’s a fast-flowing river.

In another newspaper, a spokesperson for Cruise and Maritime Voyages said the cruise ship was affected by a "strong gust of wind" which caused it to come into "minor contact" with a local ferry.

In the Yellow Advertiser, a spokesman for the Port of London Authority was quoted saying “the cruise ship was alongside the ferry at what we call the Tilbury landing stage – the cruise terminal – where, of course, the Tilbury to Gravesend ferry also parks. The cruise ship was leaving to go out to sea and essentially scraped alongside the ferry, which was parked up. The cruise ship continued out to sea afterwards. The damage to the ferry was minor and she was back in service on Friday. There was no serious damage and no pollution, but obviously we are going to look at all the circumstances and find out exactly what happened.”

The Gravesend–Tilbury Ferry is a passenger ferry across the River Thames east of London. It is the last public crossing point before the Thames reaches the sea.

Photo credit: Martin Dalton via Yellow Advertiser.