Titanic memorial cruise medical emergency diverted

A medical emergency Tuesday diverted the cruise ship retracing the path of the ill-fated Titanic 100 years after its sinking.

Its rougher waters for a cruise ship retracing the Titanic's doomed voyage 100 years ago this month.

The ship is turning around and heading approximately 20 nautical miles east to bring it nearer to the coast and within reach of a helicopter," the cruise line said in a statement. "Fred. Olsen and Titanic Memorial Cruises are working with the Irish Coastguard to co-ordinate the relevant arrangements, and making sure that all agencies involved are being kept informed.

The crew of the MS Balmoral, which is hosting the memorial cruise, is working with the Irish coast guard to assist a passenger who became ill.

iReporter Tom Byron, who is on board the Balmoral, told CNN the ship made an hours-long "huge U-turn in the ocean" to get closer to shore for the airlift. The cruise line has not provided details of the emergency situation.

The Balmoral's itinerary includes a memorial service at the spot where the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, in international waters in the North Atlantic. More than 1,500 people aboard perished.

The ship set sail from Southampton, England, on Sunday and stopped at the Titanic's last port of call in Cobh, Ireland, on Monday. The "sea was a little rough" after departing Cobh, according to the cruise line's Facebook page.

The ship, which departed Southampton, England, on Sunday, is currently traveling to New York. After a brief port call in Cobh on Ireland's south coast, the Balmoral sailed again late Monday night.

Byron said many passengers are seasick as a result of rough seas and 20-foot waves. "Shows canceled for the day due to lots of rocking and bumping," Byron said in an e-mail.

The cruise itinerary includes a memorial service in the spot where the Titanic sank 100 years ago on Sunday before heading to Halifax, Nova Scotia and New York, the ship's final destination.

The ship will resume its journey as soon as the passenger is evacuated for treatment, and the timing should not be affected, the cruise line said.

One day after the MS Balmoral arrived late for planned festivities on Ireland's coast, the ship was forced to turn back Tuesday due to a medical emergency on board.

Rachael Jackson, public relations manager for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, which operates the Balmoral, told msnbc.com that a passenger had fallen ill.

Miles Morgan, Managing Director of Miles Morgan Travel which chartered the journey, told Reuters that "the passenger's condition is not thought to be life-threatening."

The ship is carrying 1,309 passengers on a 12-night cruise. Among them are relatives of those who lost their lives, relatives of survivors and historians.