LILLE, France (Reuters) - A P&O ferry with more than 200 passengers on board has run aground in stormy weather in Calais harbor in northern France, but there are no injuries, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said on Sunday.
The "Pride of Kent" of P&O Ferries tried to leave the Calais harbor bound for Dover, Britain around midday, but ran aground in the harbor, probably on a sand bank, the prefecture said.
"Nobody is hurt and the ship is stable," a prefecture spokesman said, adding that two tug boats were trying to free the ship.
All cross-channel traffic has been interrupted, the prefecture said.
A spokesman for P&O Ferries confirmed that one of its vessels had run aground in Calais while leaving the port.
"There are no reported injuries, the ship is now afloat and we hope to transfer our passengers to an alternative ship as soon as possible," he said.
UK-based P&O operates 20 ferries which carry nine million passengers per year between France, Belgium, The Netherlands and across the Irish Sea.