A Friday night booze cruise turned into a nightmare ordeal for partygoers on board the after fighting broke out sending two women to hospital with serious stab wounds.

Gang fighting was involved and a firearm was also brandished, terrified witnesses told .

A 20-year-old Southampton woman remained in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last night for treatment of a collapsed lung as a result of being stabbed in the chest. Last night a hospital spokeswoman said the stab victim was in a stable condition on a general ward.

Another woman was stabbed in the back and two others sustained a sprained shoulder and bruising, although the trio have now all been released from hospital.

Thea large, three-level boat pictured, left Hamilton at 9.30 p.m. with up to 400 people on board.

The melee erupted at around 11.30 p.m., although a Police spokesman said it was not known how it started.

However, has learnt, from an eyewitness who was on the boat but did not wish to be named, that the fight started between a man and a woman.

?The fight started between a girl and a guy,? she said. ?Someone was throwing smoke bombs.?

She ran upstairs to escape the smoke and violence.

?Some guys who were standing by the steps were stamping out something that was on fire. A girl got on the microphone and said ?stop fighting?. It was real crazy. You could not do anything. We were stuck out there in the water. There was no escape from the sheer terror.

?The Captain docked at Dockyard when a whole bunch of country guys jumped off,? she said. ?Then the country guys were hitting the boat with poles. I jumped off in Dockyard. I was scared out of my mind.?

Boat Captain, Joseph Bailey, told that a knife was held to his throat during the terrifying ordeal

After 11pm. he received a report from the crew that two girls were fighting. A few minutes later he placed an emergency call to Harbour Radio after hearing the news that two females on board had been stabbed. He called Harbour Radio and proceeded to meet the ambulance at Albouy?s Point in Hamilton. The journey to town was interrupted when ?all hell broke loose? according to Captain Bailey, who has been operating the MV Bermudian for more than 40 years.

?There was screaming, after that I saw smoke coming out of the middle deck, I was told the boat was on fire. I took the boat to Dockyard, the closest point for people to get off. At that point we were getting ready to get the gang plank down when I heard a lot of noise and about 20 guys dropped off, screaming on board.?

At that point, the Captain said a young man came into the Cabin and held a knife to his throat, telling him; ?If you don?t take this boat away from the dock I?m going to cut your throat.?

He piloted the boat towards Hamilton where emergency medical teams and the Police were waiting to meet the vessel as Harbour Radio coaxed the skipper through the terrifying ordeal.

?I didn?t panic but at that point I was concerned for my life,? Captain Bailey said.

?The Lord was with me, I thought if I didn?t go to Dockyard quite a few people would have been killed.?

Although it was dark, the Captain said he noticed that the youths who had jumped off the boat were wearing red white and blue, while other groups on board had also matched their colours.

A second eyewitness stayed on the boat until it reached Albouy?s Point.

?It was really scary I wanted to get off at Dockyard but I couldn?t because they were throwing bottles and stuff,? she said. ?The fire extinguishers were set off downstairs. They were throwing tin cans with blue fire that they use in barbecue onto the upper deck.?

She said the fighting was taking place on the second deck of the boat.

?I saw guys running downstairs. The music was turned off,? she said. ?Some of the guys had scarves over their faces.

The witness said the two women were stabbed on the return journey back to Hamilton and that one of them was taken off the boat in a stretcher.

But as the victim was being put into an ambulance at Albouy?s Point, another female jumped into the ambulance to beat her until a Police Officer pulled her off, the witness said.

The witness said the fight was gang related, between two factions of the Town and Country gangs, however, Police could not confirm this.

Five Police Departments rushed to Dockyard and Hamilton to try and catch the culprits, including the Police Support Unit, Emergency Response Team, Serious Crime Unit and Marine Police.

Everyone disembarking the in Hamilton was searched by Police.

The Forensic Support Unit gathered evidence at the scene to aid in the ongoing investigation.

Police last night confirmed that two people, an 18-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man, both from Pembroke, had been arrested in connection with the incident. And they appealed for anyone with any information to contact the Serious Crime Unit at 295-0011 or the confidential crime-stoppers hotline at 1800-623-8477.

?It appears that BermyNET was holding an evening cruise heading through the channel when Police received reports of individuals being stabbed on board the vessel also reports of weapons including firearms being brandished,? a Police spokesman said.

?Anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated. Offenders will be arrested and put before the courts.?

Police were out in force with multiple departments covering various social events on Saturday night including the Pink Party at Snorkel Park in Dockyard. Yesterday, Police thanked the public for their co-operation on Saturday night as 50 Officers ensured a relatively incident free night. Police said they will continue to deploy officers at social events throughout the summer.

Last night the event organiser made a public apology to passengers. A company spokesman said: ?We would like to apologise to patrons for this unfortunate event. Their safety and well-being remain a number one priority to us. While we cannot apologise for the actions of those responsible, we will be analysing the situation to ensure that it is not repeated. ?