THE roll-on, roll-off ferry Lucia B with a dangerous cargo on board, limped into the Port of Alcudia early yesterday morning where she was unloaded safely.
Danger struck at 5am on Tuesday morning when a large wave hit the ferry some 30 miles off Dragonera.
Her cargo was knocked loose and an 18-tonne container of nitrogen slipped overboard into the sea at a depth of 1.500 metres.
Another container rolled over onto a number of vehicles, causing serious damage.
The ship was en route from Tarragona to Palma, but in view of the situation, the captain changed course to Alcudia and raised the alarm at 3pm on Tuesday afternoon.
A full emergency operation was mounted in the Port of Alcudia ahead of the ship's arrival and all shipping in the area was put on full alert.
The Lucia B finally appeared off the coast of Alcudia at around 5.47. She was not allowed to dock in the port, where fire fighters, the Guardia Civil, ambulance teams and special emergency teams were on stand-by, until 7.18, once the ship had been inspected and a full assessment of the damage and the danger carried out.
Apart from the vehicles damaged, only a slight leak was detected on deck and the ship limped into port to be unloaded.
Fire fighters stood by throughout the unloading which took the best part of three hours.
The high winds and heavy seas caused more problems for shipping yesterday with ferry crossings cancelled yesterday morning.
The port of La Savina in Formentera was closed for most of the day with the wind reaching speeds of 75 kilometres per hour.
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