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Clean up begins after stormy North East weekend

Gusts of up to 60 mph were recorded on Sunday - causing traffic delays, severely choppy seas and cancellation of several events

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DFDS ferry breaks free from moorings during storm - but still sets sail for Amsterdam

Thank you to Stephen Miller who sent us this footage of a DFDS Seaways ferry breaking free from its moorings on the River Tyne in North Shields yesterday afternoon.

At the time winds were gusting up to 60mph.

No one was hurt.

The weather delayed departure of the ferry for Amsterdam.

She managed to leave North Shields just after 3am this morning - original departure was planned for 00:31.

DFDS Seaways sent ITV Tyne Tees this statement:

"I can confirm that, unfortunately, the ropes securing Princess Seaways to the berth at the Port of Tyne in North Shields snapped in the high winds yesterday (November 29).

The ship was then secured in the port where she underwent a thorough assessment in conjunction with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and the Danish Maritime Authority and received repairs for minor damage.

Princess Seaways was able to operate its service from Newcastle, setting sail at 3:12am this morning (November 30) with an expected arrival time in Amsterdam of 16.00 local time. I would like to apologise to our passengers for any inconvenience caused to their journeys, but we, like many other travel operators, are sometimes beholden to the weather.

Safety is our top priority and I would like to reassure all our customers that Princess Seaways is safe to sail. Our customer services team kept passengers informed throughout and contacted everyone booked onto the service."

– Max Foster, passenger director at DFDS Seaways
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Clean up begins after stormy North East weekend

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