their moods darkened by a dirty visitor over the weekend.

The Royal Gazette was informed yesterday that boats at the Dockyard Marina were sprinkled with soot while the TSS Topaz was in port on Saturday.

A Police spokeswoman confirmed that the ship was now under investigation.

Meanwhile a spokeswoman for the marina reported that vessels were left soiled by soot both inside and out.

Apparently the fine black powder from the ship's boilers landed on the boats moored nearby and travelled through any open air vents to spoil their interiors.

"There are a very large number of disgruntled boat owners,'' she said.

"There are quite a few boats up here and most were influenced by some sort of soot or other.

"The ship was here all day yesterday and the soot came out of its smokestack.

It happens with the boiler systems on these older ships.'' The TSS Topaz arrived early on Saturday morning and left yesterday morning at 8 a.m. It stopped in Bermuda while en route from the Azores to Florida with some 196 passengers on board.