TODAY she is a sad sight, battered, beaten and dangerously close to sinking, but there was a time when the 41,900-ton liner Oriana was the pride of Southampton.

The once beautiful ship is now listing heavily and teetering on the edge of capsizing after being hit by storm force winds.

Oriana is being closely monitored but there are fears the vessel, once a familiar sight on the city's dockland skyline, will be lost beneath the waves off the coast of China.

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