Cruise ship sinking off Antarctica

British Coast Guard spokesman Fred Caygill told the AP the ship had a hole \the size of a fist\ in the hull.

\We believed it has been hulled, it has a hole the size of a fist and some cracking in the hull of the ship, it\s taking water and it\s listing about 21 degrees,\ he said.

Dave Jardine-Smith, head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency\s (MCA) search and rescue team in England said passengers were expected to be in \good condition\, and that no injuries had been reported.

Earlier, Mark Clark, a spokesman for the MCA told the Press Association five ships were on their way to help the sinking vessel.

\She hit something and is taking on a serious amount of water, that is all we know.\

The temperature in the area is said to be at around minus 5C, with a sea temperature at around minus 1C, forecasters told the Press Association.

Stephen Davenport, senior forecaster with MeteoGroup, said:\It wouldn\t take long for hypothermia to set in at that kind of temperature in the sea.