Rescue vessels rush to aid drifting cruise ship

French and Spanish rescue aircraft and boats went to the assistance of a cruise ship drifting in the Mediterranean today with more than 700 people on board after a storm knocked out its engines.

The Voyager, en route from Tunisia to Barcelona, Spain, sent out an SOS after a wave struck the ship and knocked its engines out as it sailed near the Spanish island of Menorca, a maritime spokeswoman said.