Ship damanges Mexican coral reef

Environmentalists in Mexico say a Norwegian cruise ship has destroyed part of the Great Maya reef which lies in the Caribbean off the Yucatan peninsula.

It is the world's second largest reef, after Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The cruise ship Leeward is believed to have caused the damage as it left the port of Cancun.

Ecologists estimate that some four-hundred square metres of reef were destroyed; they say it will take more than five hundred years to recover.

The Mexican authorities say they intend to start legal action against the ship's owners.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service