CHARLESTON, S.C. (April 17) - A seven-story-high wave damaged a cruise ship returning from the Bahamas over the weekend, smashing windows, flooding more than 60 cabins and injuring four passengers.

The Norwegian Dawn was diverted from its route when the ship ran into rough weather on the way back to New York.

The 965-foot-long vessel was docked in the Charleston harbor by late Saturday afternoon for repairs, officials said.

"The ship was hit by a freak wave that caused two windows to break in two different cabins,'' Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement.

It said 62 cabins flooded and four passengers had cuts and bruises. The wave reached as high as deck 10 on the ship, company spokeswoman Susan Robison said Sunday.

The ship's hull was damaged but the vessel was not taking on water, said Keith Moore of the Coast Guard Group Charleston.

A wave about 70 feet high slammed The Norwegian Dawn.
Caption Source: Reuters
Photo Source: NCL/Getty Images

"All the passengers had donned personal flotation devices as a precaution,'' Moore told The (Charleston) Post and Courier.

The cruise line said passengers whose cabins were flooded were being flown home from Charleston and the safety of the ship "was in no way compromised by this incident.''

The ship left New York last Sunday with 2,500 passengers aboard. It was expected to arrive in New York on Monday.