Hundreds of passengers are being sent home today from a Maltese-registered cruise ship which was damaged yesterday when it was hit by eight-metre high waves in the Mediterranean.

A German and an Italian passenger on the MV Louis Majesty were killed in yesterday's accident off the coast of Spain and 14 others were injured, the owners said. One woman is still in "very serious" condition. Spanish media said the woman's legs were broken in the accident.

Another injured passenger, a 59-year-old man, was also hospitalised with multiple injuries.

The Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Line said the more than 1,300 passengers on the stricken liner were being repatriated from Barcelona, where the ship docked last night to evacuate the dead and injured and undergo repairs.

The company, in a statement =said the casualties were caused when the freak waves smashed windows in a public area of the ship.

"We are not going to be launching an investigation into this incident," Louis Cruise spokesman Michalis Maratheftis said in Cyprus.

"This was a natural, unforeseen and unpredictable phenomenon because we are talking about three big waves, higher than eight metres, striking the vessel," he told AFP.

"This is not an incident which we could have prevented, therefore there will be no investigation.

Transport Malta is looking into the accident, however.

The captain rerouted the 200-metre (660-foot) ship, which was on a 12-day cruise of the western Mediterranean, to Barcelona, following the accident.

The ship, carrying 1,350 passengers and 580 crew, had been due to return to the Italian port of Genoa, the starting point and ultimate destination of the cruise today.

"All passengers are on their way back to their respective countries as we speak. We have made all the necessary arrangements for all of the passengers to be safely transported back to their countries," Maratheftis said.

The Maltese-flagged ship will remain in Barcelona for repairs, such as to broken windows, before sailing back to the Italian port of Genoa where normal operations would resume on March 12.

Louis Cruises expressed its "sincere condolences to the families of the two victims and its full support to the injured passengers while expressing its deep sorrow for the incident."