More than 200 people have been evacuated from a tourist ferry leaking off France's western Brittany coast.
The passengers were taken to an island offshore when the Atlantestarted leaking..
No injuries were reported, according to maritime officials in the western port of Brest, and the reasons for the accident remained unclear.
Rescuers were using lifeboats and private sailboats to evacuate the 226 passengers on board the ship, which was travelling from the port of La Turballe toward the island of Belle-Ile.
The captain alerted rescue services to the problem at 9 a.m. (local time) and said he would start evacuating passengers to the nearby port of Quiberon, north of Belle-Ile.
Authorities immediately sent a helicopter carrying two pumps to the site to help contain the leak in a bid to keep the ferry from sinking, as well as a team of divers.
Besides the 226 passengers, four crew members were aboard the Atlante, a 27.65-metre (90-foot) commercial ferry.