Stranded cruise ship from Seattle company re-floated in Va.

By Associated Press

Summary

A small cruise ship that ran aground to keep it from sinking earlier this week in Virginia was re-floated on Saturday and escorted to a shipyard.

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Story Published: Nov 10, 2007 at 6:37 PM PST

Story Updated: Nov 10, 2007 at 6:37 PM PST

Stranded cruise ship from Seattle company re-floated in Va.

Coast Guard boats attend to a small cruiseship that ran aground in the Intracoastal Waterway, Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, near Virginia Beach, Va.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A small cruise ship that ran aground to keep it from sinking earlier this week in Virginia was re-floated on Saturday and escorted to a shipyard.

The captain of the 207-foot Spirit of Nantucket, which belongs to a Seattle company, ran the ship aground Thursday after it suffered a foot-long gash in its hull and began to take on water. All 66 people on board were rescued safely with no injuries reported.

The Coast Guard and a Virginia Beach Police Department boat were escorting the boat to the Colonna Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs.

The boat was on a 10-day cruise from Alexandria to Charleston, South Carolina.

It is owned by Cruise West, a cruise line based in Seattle.