The cruise liner Norwegian Dream collided with a cargo ship yesterday on its way back from a 13-day tour of the Scandinavian capitals. At least 20 passengers suffered minor injuries and the ship's bow was badly gouged.

The Norwegian Dream is the old Dreamward , which local residents may recall regularly sailed to Bermuda for several years each summer up until 1998 when she was replaced with the Norwegian Crown and then underwent a refit to add 250 cabins. The ship's owner Norwegian Cruise Line is based in Bermuda.

Passengers on board the ship told of surviving an "earthquake-like'' crash when their ship and the cargo ship collided in the dead of night in the English Channel.

"I'm from Los Angeles and I can only compare it to a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake,'' said Edna Mae Glikmann.

Passenger Arielle Adelman, 16, from New York City said: "When I heard the bang, I really pictured another Titanic and started running to the deck.'' "It was really scary. There was a loud bang. I was walking down the hall and fell over. The ship started shaking and things started falling.'' Only three holiday-makers on the Bahamas-registered Norwegian Dream were slightly injured in the collision which left the container ship adrift and ablaze in the Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The 1992-built Norwegian Dream , carrying about 2,400 mainly British and American passengers, limped into the English port of Dover about six hours after the impact.

The force of the collision threw three shipping containers from the deck of the Ever Decent onto the cruise liner. Other containers fell into the water, while several more caught fire.

The passengers, who had all been taken ashore by midday yesterday, were just seven hours away from ending their 12-day European cruise.

"We really thought we were going to capsize because it keeled over horribly to the side,'' Glikmann said. "It was as clear as can be. I don't understand how it can possibly have happened.'' Cruise ship passenger Bob Gedan, 62, from Fort Lauderdale, who was travelling with his wife Winnie, 61, said there were some anxious moments among passengers but never any panic.

"Most people were asleep at the time. The TV fell off onto our bed and woke my wife,'' he said. "We were on our way to bed and we just felt this really sharp turn. We were sent up to get our life jackets,'' said Katie Trella from the US state of New Jersey.

Meanwhile, passengers arriving for a cruise which had been scheduled to start yesterday were told the sailing was cancelled, but they would be accommodated on the Norwegian Dream overnight before being sent home.

Despite the accident, all restaurants and bars were operating, officials said.

Helicopters, tugs, lifeboats, five merchant ships and the German frigate Augsburg stood by to assist the 17 crew still battling the fire on the Panama-registered Ever Decent . Some 15 containers were on fire.

"A noxious cloud of smoke is coming from the vessel and all ships are being warned to keep clear of the area,'' a spokesman for Dover coastguards said.

"The container ship is now upright after listing at about 40 degrees, but it is seriously damaged,'' said the spokesman.

The Norwegian Dream's bridge was badly damaged and its bow caved in near the waterline.

Another salvage tug with a specialist firefighting team on board was heading to the scene from Rotterdam.

The spokesman said there were few details on how the collision occurred but the fire broke out after the collision.

"The winds were light...and visibility good,'' he said.

Lloyds shipping service said the 52,090 gross tonne Ever Decent was built in 1997 and was owned by Evergreen Marine Corp. The 50,764 gross tonne Norwegian Dream was built in 1992 and is owned by Norwegian Cruise Line.

Gouged: The Norwegian Dream's damaged bow is littered with containers which tumbled onto it in the collision. She is pictured in Dover.