The cruise ship Saga Sapphire was three hours late sailing from Falmouth on Sunday evening after she encountered problems heaving in her stern anchor in the Cross Channel at the end of her call.

When she arrived, instead of the pilot carrying out customary running moor using two anchors, her master decided to deploy the ship’s stern anchor to hold the ship in position, instead of swinging around two bow anchors.

It is understood that the Saga Sapphire’s stern windlass failed. The anchor and 400 feet of cable were cut and left on the seabed allowing the cruise ship to sail to Guernsey. Docks-based SubMarine Services attended the vessel and recovered the anchor and cable.