A passenger on Cruise & Maritime Voyages' 22,080 gross ton Marco Polo has been killed in the English Channel and another airlifted to shore after their vessel was hit by a freak wave on Friday.

“The 85-year-old man died after being airlifted off the ship. The second passenger taken to shore was a woman in her 70s,” the Independent newspaper reported on its website. The huge wave battered ship as it headed for its home port of Tilbury in Essex following a 42-night voyage to Brazil.