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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Lauren Harte

P&O vessel passes inspection and back in service after passengers left stranded off NI coast

A P&O ferry that went adrift for several hours off the coast of Northern Ireland on Tuesday afternoon has been cleared to sail again.

The European Causeway, which can carry up to 410 passengers, was about five miles away from Larne Harbour when it experienced a mechanical issue.

The vessel lost power for more than an hour while sailing from Cairnryan at around 12 noon to Larne, where it was due to arrive at 2pm.

Read more: Hundreds of P&O ferry passengers left stranded off NI coast after losing power

But at around lunchtime passengers and crew found themselves stuck at sea due to a mechanical issue.

The ship was back in port after 4pm and P&O said a full inspection would take place.

The Marine Traffic website stated the ferry's automatic identification system status had been set to "not under command", which is reserved for use when a vessel is "unable to manoeuvre as required by these rules and is therefore unable to keep out of the way of another vessel".

P&O Ferries said it had been a temporary issue and the European Causeway had travelled to Larne "under its own propulsion".

Surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have since carried out a full inspection of the vessel and are satisfied that it is safe to sail again."

P&O Ferries has been prohibited from using the ship's shaft generator for "provision of main power".

The MCA spokeswoman said: "In the meantime, the European Causeway can rely on other generators for its electricity use. There are no further inspections of P&O Ferries at the moment but we will reinspect when requested by P&O Ferries."

The ferry operator has been widely criticised after replacing nearly 800 seafarers with cheaper agency workers on March 17.

The move sparked fears about the safety of its ships.

Last month, this ferry was detained in Northern Ireland after being deemed "unfit to sail" around the same time that hundreds of UK staff were suddenly sacked.

The European Causeway vessel was in the port due to "failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training", the MCA said at the time.

On April 8, the ferry was released from detention and cleared to sail again.

Read more: P&O Ferries resume cross-Channel sailings for first time since sackings

Read more: Full P&O service from Northern Ireland to Scotland resumes

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