A cruise liner carrying more than 3,500 passengers and crew ran aground in the North Channel off Bermuda.

The Norwegian Dawn had just left Dockyard when she temporarily lost power and ploughed into the reef.

Divers and a tug boat were immediately sent to the stricken 965ft vessel to assess the damage.

The Royal Gazette understands that the ship was hard against the reef but there were no reports of leaks to the vessel.

Two tug boats started to try to pull the Dawn off the reefs and free the vessel at about 10.30pm.

The tugs, Powerful and Edward M Stowe, were at full power trying to pull the Dawn from the stern.

The vessel was successful refloated after 11pm and is expected to head for Heritage Wharf, Dockyard, this morning for observation after a night spent anchored on the Crescent.

The Dawn, which has been a regular caller to Bermuda for many years, arrived in Bermuda on Sunday for a two-night stop from Boston.

She had just left King’s Wharf on her return journey when the incident occurred at 6.10pm.

News of the grounding quickly made news across the world, with USA Today and other American and British media outlets reporting on the incident.

A statement by Norwegian Cruise Line said: “On Tuesday, May 19, at approximately 5pm Eastern Standard Time, Norwegian Dawn temporarily lost power as the ship was departing King’s Wharf, Bermuda.

“The ship’s propulsion was affected and, at which time, the vessel made contact with the channel bed.”

According to the cruise line, all passengers and crew on board the vessel were safe and power was back up on the ship and all on-board services were continuing as scheduled.

“The ship’s team is currently assessing the situation and we will provide more information as it becomes available,” Norwegian said.

On board, some passengers took to social media to report what was going on.

Rachel Hansen provided regular updates on Twitter.

Just after 6pm, she posted: “I’m currently on a Norwegian Cruise line ship called the Norwegian Dawn that has ran into a coral reef and has stopped moving. We may be evacuated off the ship depending on how the evaluation of the damages go.”

Ms Hansen posted photos on her account as the damage to the cruise ship was assessed, and reported that passengers were still trying to have a good time despite what had occurred.

At about 8.30pm she stated: “We were just told we will definitely not be leaving today.”

Just before 10pm she added: “Last we have heard the earliest possible time we will be moving is tomorrow morning. We do not know what time or what we will be doing after.”

Half an hour later she tweeted: “Just heard new news from the captain saying that with high tide coming in we will see if we can get off the coral reef and drop anchor.

“If we are able to get off the coral reef we will wait until tomorrow morning to see what the next plan of action is.”

The plight of the Norwegian Dawn is unlikely to affect the arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway and the Celebrity Summit, which are scheduled to berth in Dockyard this morning.

Yesterday afternoon a Bermuda Radio spokesman said: “There has been an incident with the Norwegian Dawn and her transit outbound to sea via the North Channel.

“She is stationed in the Channel and it looks like she may possibly have run aground. We are really just assessing the situation. We can report that there is no water ingress or any pollution at the moment.

“It is very early days at the moment. We will get the tugs out there and some divers in the water to assess the situation.”

At about 12.20am, Shawn Crockwell, the Minister of Tourism Development and Transport, confirmed that “following its departure from King’s Wharf in Dockyard this afternoon, the cruise ship Norwegian Dawn ran aground while transiting the North Channel”.

He added: “There are 2,675 passengers and 1,062 crew members on board. There were no reported injuries, the vessel remained stable and there was no intake of water or pollution threat.

“Efforts were made to refloat the ship at high tide around 10.26pm. Government tug boats were on hand to assist and the ship was successfully refloated shortly after 11pm. She will remain anchored overnight and a hull survey will be carried out in the morning.

“I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the Marine and Ports team, our pilots and the chief maritime operations controller for all of their hard work this evening.”

• Additional reporting by Sarah Lagan and Lisa Simpson