The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Anthem of the Seas headed back to its New Jersey port last night after a storm packing high winds and 30-foot (9-metre) waves toppled furniture and shattered glass on the vessel, slightly injuring four people.
The cruise company said the storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, was more severe than expected. Passengers posted pictures on social media of a collapsed ceiling and rooms in disarray and said they were told to remain in their cabins as the ship rocked for hours.
Robert Huschka, executive editor of the Detroit Free Press, told USA Today that the experience was "truly terrifying."
"The good news?" Huschka tweeted. "They never lost the Super Bowl signal. Perfect TV picture throughout storm!"
On Monday, a high-ranking member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee called for a federal investigation into the event, saying the crew should have known not to sail the ship into the "the heart of a hurricane-force storm."
Sen. Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the panel that oversees the National Transportation Safety Board, asked that the agency include Sunday's event in its investigation into last year's sinking of El Faro, a cargo ship that ran...
