Ferry runs aground in French port of Calais

A ferry with more than 300 people on board ran aground on Sunday in high winds at Calais in northern France, interrupting traffic in one of Europe’s busiest passenger ports but causing no injuries.

“The vessel is stable. Port officers are looking at how to refloat it,” an official in the local administration said.

A spokeswoman for the P&O shipping company said the ferry, The Pride of Kent, ran aground around noon after it hit a gangway while making to leave for Dover, its destination in Britain.

A Calais port official said the vessel foundered “on a sandbank” while the local prefecture indicated it had hit a rocky bank.

The prefecture said there were 208 passengers aboard plus 105 crew for 313 people in total.