Liner saves nine sailors

Oriana will make a detour to drop the survivors off

The captain of a luxury cruise liner has been hailed a hero after saving sailors from a capsized boat off the coast of Italy.

The £200m ship Oriana responded to an SOS from a capsized Turkish boat on Saturday morning.

Nine men from the cargo vessel Orsay were found clinging to a raft and were saved by crew members in a rescue craft.

We think the captain is a hero - he saved a number of lives in this rescue

P&O

The cruise liner is making a detour to take the survivors back to mainland Italy.

A tenth sailor was plucked from the water by an Italian coastguard helicopter.

The Oriana is on a 16-day voyage from Sardinia to Croatia.

Captain Michael Fatchen diverted the 67,000 tonne liner to the sinking ship in waters between Sicily and Italy after hearing the SOS.

A spokesman for P&O hailed him as a hero and said his prompt action had saved lives.

"We think the captain is a hero. Even in the waters of the Mediterranean you are unlikely to survive much more than an hour," he said.

Clinging to raft

"He is a very experienced P&O master and he saved a number of lives in this rescue."

He added: "The Oriana is taking excellent care of the men. The doctor and medical team on board will be looking after them until they are transferred to hospital in Brindisi.

"The captain says they are all in fairly good shape except for one who seems quite hypothermic."

It is the second time the liner has been involved in a dramatic rescue.

In October last year crew pulled a capsized jetskier to safety off the Spanish coast after he was spotted in stormy waters by two British passengers.