THE Admiralty Marshal has impounded the Renaissance cruise ship R Seven at Dover docks following a complaint about an unpaid bill. The ship, which had sailed from Dover on Saturday for a cruise to St Petersburg, returned on Tuesday night after Renaissance Cruises ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy.

The terrorist attacks on America are blamed for the collapse of the company. More than 200 of the 580 American passengers who had booked for the cruise - which involved flying to England to board the ship at Dover - failed to turn up.

Around 300 passengers are currently stranded at Dover and spent the night on the cruise liner as arrangements were made for them to fly home, hopefully today.

The R Seven is the second cruise ship to be detained at Dover in the past three months. The Ocean Glory 1 is still at the port after being impounded in July following a safety inspection.