A cruise ship company yesterday claimed that five of its crew members were set upon by a gang at Dockyard — leaving one man recovering in hospital last night.

Police confirmed that a crewman was pushed into the sea and suffered suspected broken ribs during the scuffle on Dockyard Terrace in the early hours of yesterday but said officers were still conducting an “exhaustive investigation” into exactly what happened.

Force spokesman Dwayne Caines told The Royal Gazette that a local man had been taken into custody and was helping Police with inquiries and that other arrests were expected to follow.

He stressed that the incident was not believed to be connected to any organised gang but warned that any violence towards visitors to the Island would not be tolerated.

“It’s not something that we are proud about in Bermuda when people coming to our shores leave with injuries,” he said. “Clearly we don’t want to speculate until we get the full details surrounding the incident but it’s something we are treating seriously.

“We want to give the public and the passengers and the crew reassurance that if there was anything untoward by any member of our community it will be dealt with. It’s not gang-related but that doesn’t make it any less important.”

The fight involved four Bulgarians and one Trinidadian from the Voyager of the Seas>and a group of local men.

Michael Sheehan, from Royal Caribbean International, which operates the cruise ship, said: “Local gang members assaulted five Voyager of the Seas crew members who were returning to the ship after visiting a local Bermuda disco.

“Four of the crew members sustained minor injuries. One remains under observation in a Bermuda hospital.”

He added: “Royal Caribbean immediately reported the incident to local authorities and is fully assisting in their investigation. According to local authorities this was an isolated incident.”

Mr. Caines said the crewman still in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) needed 15 stitches in his eyebrow while a colleague was treated at the hospital for a possible broken nose, cut lip and bruised face. Three others were treated on board the ship for injuries, including scalp lacerations.

Mr. Caines said the “scuffle” between the crew and a group of local men spilled out onto Dockyard Terrace after starting in a drinking establishment. He said it was not clear who started the fight but it appeared that the crewmen came off worst.

Police, firefighters and an ambulance attended the scene at 3.20 a.m. yesterday and Police officers were still interviewing witnesses at Dockyard yesterday afternoon.

Mr. Caines said an experienced team of investigators led by Supt. Sinclair White was conducting the inquiry and it is understood that the first arrest was made after closed-circuit television footage was viewed.

Joe Simas, of Meyer Shipping, agent for thI>Voyager, said he spoke to crew and doctors on board the ship.

“All I know is that it was five crew members that got into an altercation. The crew members had interviews with the Police.”

The Voyager of the Seas, an occasional visitor to Bermuda, arrived at Dockyard on Monday on its way from Miami to the Azores and left yesterday at 2 p.m. Ian Ratcliffe, a host at the Frog and Onion at Dockyard, said his pub was packed on Monday night with cruise ship passengers but there was no trouble. “We heard they hadn’t been off the ship for a long time and they were in the mood for partying,” he said. “Last night was very, very, very busy but I heard it was a brilliant night. We had quite tight security on last night and we have a very strict policy of no head gear that could obscure the face.”

A source at Dockyard — who asked not to be identified — said it was not unusual for locals to act aggressively towards cruise ship visitors. “It’s typical of the locals here. It’s usually locals seeing foreigners with local women. They are easy targets: ‘they’re drunk, let’s get them’. It’s disgusting.”

Officers piecing together the details of what happened are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information should call the Somerset Criminal Investigation Unit on 234-1010.