Horrifying Footage Shows Cruise Ship Battered by 30ft Waves

   March 13, 2017 ,   Accidents

New footage inside Royal Caribbean ship which ran into high winds and rough seas in the Atlantic last year has emerged.

The video shows a cruise passenger looking out the window as 30ft waves submerged the vessel during the hurricane force storm.

The ship, Anthem of the Seas, carrying more than 4,500 guests and 1,600 crew members, was heading to Port Canaveral in Florida but was forced to turn back and return to New Jersey due to the rough weather. 

It forced frightened passengers into their cabins overnight as their belongings flew about, waves rose as high as 30 feet, and winds howled outside.

In the video that surfaced on Reddit, a passenger is seen leaning against the window saying, 'We're just staying in one place, hoping not to die.'

Four passengers were injured in the storm and the ship was damaged in some of its public areas. 

Hurricane-like conditions caused items inside the ship to fly off shelves and smash into one another as the vessel leaned at least 45 degrees off center in the swells. 

The cruise line provided a full refund to passengers, as well as a discount for a future cruise.  

The trip was originally supposed to be a week-long round-trip from New Jersey to Florida and the Bahamas, but the hurricane-force storm cut the vacation short. 

The National Weather Service's Ocean Prediction Center had issued an alert for a strong storm four days in advance and questions were raised as to why the cruise ship travelled through the treacherous conditions. 

Royal Caribbean said the ship experienced 'extreme wind and sea conditions' that were not expected. 

However it apologized to passengers following the February 7 2016 incident, saying 'we have to do better.' 

But in September that year, Anthem of the Seas was caught up in another extreme storm.

Terrifying footage showed the 1,100ft-long Anthem of the Seas undulating through huge swells and 90mph winds en route to Bermuda as it encountered the tropical storm Hermine.