Around 1,300 passengers and crew were being evacuated by air and sea from the cruise ship Viking Sky which lost power in stormy seas off a treacherous part of the Norwegian coast.
The 48,000-gt Viking Ocean Cruises-owned vessel sent a mayday to the Norwegian rescue services at 1400 Saturday after it suffered engine failure off the notorious Hustadvika coast.
Four helicopters and several vessels were ferrying passengers to emergency facilities in a village near Molde on Norway’s west coast.
The BBC reported that by Sunday morning, the vessel had restarted three of its four engines and was attempting to move closer to the nearest port.
"We were having lunch when [the ship] began to shake," John Curry, who was evacuated by helicopter, told public broadcaster NRK. "Window panes were broken and water came in. It was just chaos.
"The trip on the helicopter, I would rather forget. It was not fun," he said.
Janet Jacob added: "I started to pray. I prayed for the safety of everyone on board," she said. "The helicopter trip was terrifying."
Eight people suffered injuries and three of those were thought to be in a serious condition, NRK reported.
Most of the passengers were British and American. Sea rescue services said the ship was being held steady and the evacuation was ongoing.
A spokesman for Viking Cruises 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."
The vessel has a capacity of up to 930 passengers and 602 crew.
The Norwegian-flag vessel was built in Fincantieri’s Ancona yard in 2017 and was sailing from Tromso south to Stavanger when the incident occurred.
Winds were reported to be 38 knots with waves of over 10 metres forcing lifeboats to turn back when attempting to reach the ship, local reports said according to the BBC.
The Norwegian authorities confirmed that a small cargo ship, Hagland Captain, had also lost power in the same area on Saturday evening.
Viking Ocean Cruises is part of Torstein Hagen’s passenger shipping empire which also includes Viking River Cruises.
According to industry databases Viking Sky’s engines were built by MAN Energy Solutions.
Next cruise cancelled
Viking Ocean Cruises said the ship’s next sailing, an 11-day cruise throughout Scandinavia and the Kiel Canal, has been canceled.
That voyage was set to embark 27 March in Amsterdam and disembark 6 April in Copenhagen.
“We do not anticipate any additional cancellations at this time,” a spokesperson said.
The company had no further comments on the Viking Sky incident as of 0245 Norway time.
