their actions which saved the Horizon and several yachts from possible disaster on Thursday night.

Admitting they helped avert what "could have been a casualty or at least an ugly situation'' from occurring in St. George's Harbour, they said it was all in the line of duty.

"It's kind of exciting,'' said the tug's captain, Mr. Kenneth Todd. "It doesn't happen all the time. But anything man-made is liable to mistake, misfortune or its fate. On the whole, things do go rather wonderfully considering in other parts of the world cases such as these happen every day.'' Capt. Todd said the 12-deck, 42,000-tonne cruise ship ran into difficulty as she was heading for Town Cut Channel, veering into Convict Bay and narrowly missing crashing into Ordnance Island.

"Between the Captain and the pilots, they were doing their best to maintain the proper course, but going through I guess the winds got the better part of the port quarter and she began to set and went into two yachts,'' he said.

"It was very windy. Normally she leaves at 3 p.m. but the pilot decided to wait it out. We got the call at 7.25 p.m. that they were leaving. Because of the inclement weather they said they would wait for an hour. They didn't want her to be late as it would mean she would be late arriving in New York and subsequently late getting back in Bermuda. I knew they wanted to try and get underway at any cost.

"I thought they could make it through safely. Sometimes things backfire.'' Capt. Todd said the Horizon left the dock with what seemed to be a normal unberthing as she lined up for the channel, but then began to veer from the path.

Ms Carol McNair, aboard the Carduff , said she was only between 50 and 75 yards away from the cruise liner and could see the passengers on the deck in their tuxedos.

"People who were yachting couldn't believe they were trying to leave in that wind,'' she said. "The ship was so tall and had so much windage as she approached the channel from the western side.

"She was pushed to the sandbar and out of the channel and ran aground, just drifting down. They did the right thing and dropped both anchors fast, the problem was she was pushing onto a yacht, British Steel .'' "We were at the port quarter pushing when they realised the British Steel was alongside the Horizon and couldn't get away,'' said Capt. Todd. "She started to come toward us and the deckhands thought quickly and threw a rope and made it fast.

"If they had not thrown it aboard there could've been a possible cassualty or a very ugly situation. Two people were on board, one appeared elderly and the other younger. A woman and a man.'' Added a crewman: "He was pushing the yacht off with his hands. He then tried to pull his anchor up but the current pulled her to the tug... He seemed sort of shaken and terrified.'' And another said: "I don't think the people on the yacht spoke English. When we suggested passing them the rope and told them to take it they didn't and we had to give them sign language.'' Capt. Todd said the pilot then called for the tug's assistance, asking her to put up a towline to the aft on the stern. "Because of the terrible turbulence caused by the propellers of the ship, we couldn't maintain the position long enough to affect the towline to the aft to control the stern,'' he said. "The pilot ordered us to proceed inside the ship and we pushed along the port quarter. He then ordered us to stop pushing and put up the tow hawser to the stern which we did and remained until we reberthed.

"It's very fortunate that Government invested four years ago in these brand new tugs with 3,200 horsepower engine. If it wasn't for the fact that the powerful tug was there, perhaps they would have been in more trouble. We would've had to wait for a second tug.'' Lt. Cmdr. Jim Bancroft of the Naval Oceanographic Command Facility said southwesterly winds were gusting as high as 41 knots. The Horizon does not usually enter Town Cut if winds are higher than 18 knots.

NARROW MISS -- The cruise liner, Horizon is shown listing to starboard as she struggles to stay on course in high winds in St. George's Harbour on Thursday night. Photograph courtesy of Ms Caroll McNair .