A violent brawl has broken out on a Carnival Cruise Lines ship bound for Melbourne, forcing the vessel to dock early on the NSW South Coast.
As many as 30 people have been injured on board what passengers have described as “the cruise from hell”.
Carnival Cruise Line says they called police to “remove a family group of passengers”, and police officers boarded the ship on Friday morning when it reached the port of Eden.
Scared passengers say people are bleeding and traumatised after the violent outburst on the Carnival Legend, which has been on a 10-day journey to the South Pacific.
Confronting footage of the brawl obtained by Neil Mitchell’s progam on Melbourne radio station 3AW shows security guards also involved in the melee.
Several guards and at least one staff member can be seen kicking a passenger while he is on the ground.
People can be heard crying and screaming in the background.
Concerned father David Barkho told 3AW his son George called him crying from the ship about 1am on Friday.
His son said “a lot of people are bleeding, a lot of people down”.
“He has a head injury,” he said.
“He said ‘Please, Dad, please Dad, call the Federal Police.
“I could hear a lot of kids crying, women screaming, swearing.”
One passenger, known only as Michael, told 3AW he was kicked while lying on the ground, and received cuts and bruising to his face, back and legs.
Melbourne mother Kellie Petersen is on board with her husband and three children aged 11, nine and six.
She told 3AW she and her husband had been threatened by the large and aggressive family group responsible for the chaos.
“Fights have been going on for a few days now,” she told the radio station.
“We’re scared. We’ve been told to watch our backs by this group so we’re scared to go anywhere alone in the ship.
“We can’t wait to get off.”
Ms Petersen said some violent incidents had occurred in front of children in the pool.
“People are walking around with cut heads and hands, bandages everywhere,” she said.
Another passenger told the Nine Network they would not leave their cabin and were scared for their safety.
Residents and onlookers in Eden say there is a large police presence at the wharf.
A NSW Police spokeswoman confirmed a planned police operation was under way on board the cruise ship.
“About 7am today officers attached to Marine Area Command received reports of people fighting on board a cruise ship,” the spokeswoman said.
“A number of people are expected to be removed with assistance from the operational support group.”
A statement from Carnival supplied to 3AW stated: “Safety is the number one priority for Carnival Cruise Line, we take a zero tolerance approach to excessive behaviour that affects other guests and we have acted accordingly on Carnival Legend.
“The ship’s highly trained security staff have taken strong action in relation to a small group of disruptive guests who have been involved in altercations on board.
“The ship’s security team is applying our zero tolerance policy in the interests of the safety and comfort of other guests.
“Carnival Legend is currently on a 10-day South Pacific cruise scheduled to be completed in Melbourne tomorrow [Saturday].”