A York couple honeymooning on a cruise ship which sank off Malaysia today relived the terror of what they described as a chilling rerun of the Titanic.

BURNING: The scene from the lifeboat which carried honeymoon couple Tim and Rachel Morris to safety as smoke billows from the stricken Sun Vista.

Tim and Rachel Morris, both 27, of Leadley Croft, Copmanthorpe, spent six hours on a lifeboat in shark-infested waters after the 30,000-tonne luxury cruiser Sun Vista caught fire and sank near Penang.

After scrambling overboard with over 1,000 crew and passengers, they watched with horror as some people jumped into the choppy waters from the eighth-storey deck.

"It's a miracle there were no fatalities," said Mr Morris, a corporate finance adviser who married solicitor Rachel at Bubwith Parish Church on May 1.

The happy couple were into the last week of their three-week dream honeymoon when it turned into a nightmare.

Mr Morris said they were on the top deck of the Sun Cruises ship playing shuffle board when smoke starting billowing out of the funnel. Half an hour later they realised the engines had stopped and they were drifting.

He said: "At about 2.30pm we heard a crew to fire stations message over the Tannoy. We were told it was an electrical fault and they were dealing with it.

"Then all the lights went out on the ship. Over the next couple of hours the smoke got worse and they tried a blast of carbon dioxide to extinguish the fire in the engine room.

"At 4pm we saw a tanker coming towards us which we thought we were disembarking on to, but it went straight past and disappeared into the distance."

Their disbelief turned to terror when suddenly at 6.30pm, an officer came to the poolside with a megaphone and shouted "Abandon ship".

Mr Morris said: "This was the first time we knew we were in real danger, and there was absolute panic.

"Heavy smoke was now billowing everywhere, and another officer was screaming at crew to lower the lifeboats."

Mr Morris said he and his wife managed to get into a boat as passengers around them screamed in fear.

They then sat in the lifeboat watching terrified passengers scurry towards the front of the ship because the back end was engulfed in fumes.

"It was like a rerun of the Titanic as we watched the ship go up in flames. It sank at about 1am, half an hour after we were transferred on to a cargo ship," said Mr Morris.

"We were left in the shorts and T-shirts we stood up in because we couldn't get to our cabin. We lost eight rolls of irreplaceable film of our honeymoon, jewellery and an expensive wardrobe of clothes, but fortunately Rachel was wearing her engagement and wedding rings.

"It ruined our honeymoon, and we're still having nightmares."

The couple are now seeking legal advice about compensation.

A Sun Cruises spokesman said although passengers were not in any danger, guests and crew were transferred orderly to lifeboats to ensure their safety and welfare.

He said all passengers and crew arrived safely in Penang, and all passengers on the cruise would be given a full refund for the inconvenience.

Sun Cruises wished to apologise to passengers for the inconvenience. The full facts had not yet been ascertained, and an investigation was now in process.

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