Containers of Bananas falling into sea delay cruise for 24 hours in Britain’s busiest waterway

Southampton sees its share of maritime disruption, but it’s not often caused by bananas and other produce. When 16 containers toppled from a cargo ship into the Solent, the spill was significant enough to halt departures and send Coastguard helicopters and planes sweeping the coastline for drifting boxes. The fallout even delayed P&O’s Iona by a full day. P&O Cruises’ Iona was meant to leave Southampton on Saturday, 6 December, beginning a 14-night voyage to Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands. Instead, more than 5,000 passengers spent the night in port after local authorities halted departures. The reason was unusual even by maritime standards: sixteen shipping containers had fallen overboard from a cargo vessel in the Solent, several of them packed with bananas. The incident