Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:40:56 GMT | By Chris Mitchell
Cruise ship disasters

RMS Titanic

A hand out image released May 19, 2003 shows a photo of the Titanic due to be auctioned at Christie's in London. (© REUTERS/Christie's)
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  • A hand out image released May 19, 2003 shows a photo of the Titanic due to be auctioned at Christie's in London. (© REUTERS/Christie's)
  • Flowers thrown by family members of missing victims from the Costa Concordia cruise ship which ran aground off the west coast of Italy, float near the Costa Concordia at Giglio island February 13, 2012. (© REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito)
  • Captain Niccolo Alba of the Costa Allegra cruise ship wipes his tears during a news conference in Seychelles March 1, 2012. (© REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah)
  • The Azamara Quest is tied up at the dock on arrival at the port in Sandakan, Malaysia, Sunday, April 1, 2012. The Azamara Quest carrying 590 passengers and 411 crew, was left a drift for 24 hours after a fire broke out in one of the ships engine rooms on Friday night. (© AP Photo/Mark Baker)
  • Missing woman (© Photo from CBC)
  • The cruise ship Crown Princess travels into Port Canaveral, Florida in this July 18, 2006 file photo. (© REUTERS/Joe Skipper/Files)
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Before its launch on April 12, 1912, no one knew the Titanic's inaugural voyage would become one of the biggest disasters of the 20th century.

The night of April 14, the ship struck an iceberg about 600 kilometres south of Newfoundland. Over the next three hours, the ship filled with water and sank. Without enough lifeboats to accommodate all the passengers, around 1,500 people died, while 710 made it back to land.

One hundred years after the Titanic's fateful journey, cruise ships continue to be the scene of disaster and tragedy. In 2012, there has already been a wave of stricken cruise liners. Follow the gallery to see some of this year's worst nautical disasters.

Video: Titanic artifacts hit the auction block
Video: Explorer describes finding the sunken Titanic
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