1,300 'terrified' passengers and crew evacuated from cruise ship off Norwegian coast

Megan White24 March 2019

A cruise ship was forced to evacuate 1,300 people after engine problems left the crew fearing they could run aground.

200 Brits were onboard the Viking Sky cruise ship, which sent a mayday call after it ran into difficulties as bad weather hit Norway's western coast on Saturday.

Rescue workers then launched a high-risk evacuation of the ship's 1,300 passengers and crew, winching them one-by-one up to helicopters as heaving waves tossed the ship from side to side.

Local news station NRK said one 90-year-old-man and his 70-year-old spouse on the ship were injured but did not say how that happened.

Police in the western county of Moere og Romsdal said the crew, fearing the ship would run aground, managed to anchor in Hustadsvika Bay, between the western Norwegian cities of Alesund and Trondheim, so the evacuations could take place.

Video and photos from people on the ship showed it heaving, with chairs and other furniture dangerously rolling from side to side.

Passengers were suited up in orange life vests but the waves broke some windows and water flowed over the feet of some passengers.

Cruise ship Viking Sky is drifting towards land and had sent out a mayday signal off Hustadvika
EPA

Derek and Esther Browne, from Hampshire, said the "whole boat was swaying, it was very rough" before they were airlifted to safety.

Mr Browne told BBC Radio 5 Live's Stephen Nolan: "We had a few people on stretchers, several with cuts, two with broken limbs, but fortunately we were alright. We were airlifted onto the helicopter which was quite a frightening experience.

The Viking Sky lays at anchor in bad weather after it sent out a Mayday signal because of engine failure
AP

"I'd never been in a helicopter before, there were a lot of high winds, hovering overhead and the winchman came down and we were then collected up and so I shut my eyes as we arrived into the helicopter and there were 15 of us for about a 20-minute ride."

Janet Jacob, among the first group evacuated to a hotel in the nearby town of Molde, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK late Saturday that "I was afraid. I've never experienced anything so scary."

She said her rescue came amid strong winds "like a tornado" and she said she started to pray "for the safety of all aboard."

American passenger John Curry told NRK that he was having lunch as the cruise ship started to shake.

He said: "It was just chaos. The helicopter ride from the ship to shore I would rather not think about. It wasn't nice."

Rescue teams with helicopters and boats were sent to evacuate the cruise ship under extremely difficult circumstances, with winds of over 43mph and eight-metre waves.

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said the Viking Sky's evacuation was a slow and dangerous process, as passengers needed to be hoisted from the cruise ship to the five available helicopters one by one.

By 6 p.m., some 100 people had been rescued and were being taken to a nearby sports hall.

Authorities told NRK that a strong storm with high waves was preventing rescue workers from using life boats or other vessels in taking passengers ashore.

According to cruisemapper.com, the Viking Sky was on a 12-day trip that began March 14 in the western Norwegian city of Bergen.

Rescued passengers were taken to a sports hall in Hustadvika
EPA

The ship was visiting the Norwegian towns and cities of Narvik, Alta, Tromso, Bodo and Stavanger before its scheduled arrival on Tuesday in Tilbury, Essex.

The Viking Sky, a vessel with gross tonnage of 47,800, was delivered in 2017 to operator Viking Ocean Cruises.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "The ship is proceeding on its own power and a tugboat is on site. The evacuation is proceeding with all necessary caution.

"A small number of non-life threatening injuries have been reported. Guests are being accommodated in local hotels when they arrive back on shore, and Viking will arrange for return flights for all guests."

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