A luxury cruise ship that had set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard arrived at a port in Norway after narrowly escaping disaster when its engines failed during a storm. The Viking Sky sent out a mayday signal yesterday as it drifted in rough waters in the Norwegian Sea to within 100 metres of land. Rescue services airlifted 479 people, hoisting them one-by-one on to helicopters, before the weather subsided today and a tow could begin. Many of the passengers were senior citizens. A total of 1,373 people had started the voyage and about 900 people were still on board as the ship arrived at the port of Molde on Norway's west coast. "It was very nearly a disaster. The ship drifted to within 100 metres of running aground before they were able to restart one of the engines," police chief Hans Vik, who heads the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told TV2. "If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster." Built in 2017, the Viking Sky is 227 metres long (745 feet) and 29 metres wide, the Viking Ocean Cruises website said. Emergency services on standby as the Viking Sky arrives into port Founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen, met some of those who had been airlifted. "They've had a bit of a shocking experience," Mr Hagen told TV2 and other media after meeting passengers who had been winched from the deck in the storm. "Most of our passengers are senior citizens...imagine what it's like to hang there on that wire. It must be a terrible experience but they seem to have handled it very well," Mr Hagen said. The 915 passengers were mainly from the United States and Britain, the rescue services said. There were also Canadians and Australians on board, among others, the cruise company said. We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Some 20 injured passengers had been taken to hospital, Viking Cruises said, while others had only minor injuries. One was taken to St Olav's Hospital in Trondheim and others were taken to local hospitals. "Many have also been traumatised by the experience and need care when they arrive on shore," the Norwegian Red Cross said. Stormy weather conditions had improved by this afternoon, with winds down to 12 metres per second from 24 metres per second, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said. Images and video posted by passengers on social media showed furniture sliding around and panels falling from the ceiling as the vessel drifted in waves of up to eight metres. "We were having lunch when it began to shake. 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," American passenger John Curry told public broadcaster NRK yesterday. British passenger Derek Brown told newspaper Romsdal Budstikke: "I was a bit alarmed, saying help, what's going to happen to the boat? What's going to happen to all of our possessions ...is the boat liable to capsize, sink or what? We didn't know so we were quite frightened." The stretch of water known as Hustadvika and surrounding areas are known for fierce weather and shallow waters dotted with reefs. "We all want to know how this could have happened," company chairman Mr Hagen said. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time to point fingers at what could and should have been done, but that's for later." "Something like this shouldn't happen, but it has."<doc-sep>LONDON — A cruise ship that set out with more than 1,300 people but became stranded off Norway’s coast finally reached the shore on Sunday afternoon, after rescuers launched a harrowing operation in rough weather to evacuate hundreds of people one by one by helicopter. More than 890 people — 436 passengers and 458 crew members — were left on the 47,800-ton ship, the Viking Sky, as it headed to Molde, a coastal town in western Norway. On Sunday about 4:30 p.m. local time, after about six hours of traveling at sea with one tugboat in front and another in the rear, the vessel docked. In footage shared on Twitter, cheers and whoops could be heard from onshore. “It has reached Molde; everything has gone according to plan,” Einar Knudsen, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center for Southern Norway, which led the rescue operation, said by phone on Sunday. Earlier, some passengers, who were airlifted from the ship’s deck, had arrived onshore bruised and battered, the Red Cross said. Passengers told NBC News that many had been hurt by falling objects and shattered glass as waves rocked the ship.<doc-sep>COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Norwegian officials said Monday they have opened an investigation into why a cruise ship carrying more than 1,300 people set sail despite storm warnings, forcing a major evacuation. Hospital officials have said one person is in critical condition, and eight others are still hospitalized after the Viking Sky got into trouble off the Norwegian coast on Saturday. Authorities launched a daring rescue operation, taking 479 passengers off the ship by helicopter. Dag S. Liseth of Norway's Accident Investigations Board said "the high risk which the ship, its passengers and crew were exposed to made us decide to investigate the incident." The ship, which had left the northern city of Tromsoe and was headed for Stavanger in southern Norway, suffered engine trouble before the mayday call and was drifting toward the rocky coast. Many shipwrecks have occurred in the area through the years. The airlift evacuation went all through Saturday night and into Sunday morning, slowing for a bit when two of the five rescue helicopters had to be diverted to save nine crewmembers from a nearby ailing cargo ship. The Viking Sky is now docked in the port city of Molde, 241 miles northwest of Oslo, which it eventually managed to reach on its own engines. Liseth said investigators were headed to Molde Monday and declined to speculate as to why the Viking Sky captain had decided to sail despite the weather warning. He couldn't immediately say how long the ship would remain in Molde. Yngve Skovly of the police in Moere and Romsdal district where Molde sits, says that there is no suspicion of a criminal offense but police have opened an investigation to find out why the ship had engine problems. That probe would be part of the one by the Accident Investigations Board. The Viking Sky is a relatively new ship, delivered in 2017 to operator Viking Ocean Cruises. The ship was on a 12-day cruise along Norway's coast before its scheduled arrival Tuesday in the British port of Tilbury, on the River Thames. The passengers were mostly an English-speaking mix of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian citizens. The U.S. Embassy Oslo said in a statement Sunday that more than 600 Americans were on the cruise, and thanked those who helped get U.S. citizens off the ship. “Now that the Viking Sky has arrived safely in Molde, I want to take a moment to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to those who have been working tirelessly for more than 24 hours to ensure the safety and security of all passengers on board the cruise ship," U.S. Ambassador to Norway Kenneth J. Braithwaite said in a message posted on Facebook. "Thank you to everyone for supporting our U.S. citizens in distress, whose safety and security remain—as always with the Department of State in all that we do abroad—our highest priority.” All passengers were expected to be flown out on Norway by Monday evening, police said. On Sunday, the operator said the ship's next scheduled trip, to Scandinavia and Germany, that was to leave on Wednesday, was canceled. Calls to Viking Ocean Cruises on Monday were not immediately returned.<doc-sep>
A luxury cruise ship that was left floating due to engine failure and nearly crashed into the rocks in rough waters has safely arrived in the port of Molde on the west coast of Norway, with over 900 people on board. The Viking Sky was towed to safety by two tugboats, with one sailing in front of the vessel and the other behind it. The luxury cruise ship, which set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard, sent out an SOS signal on Saturday. It was drifting in rough waters near a rocky coast after all its engines stopped working. The Viking Sky cruise ship is safely at port https://t.co/zdpmebHfus — Sherry Wetzel Zellers (@sherryazellers) March 24, 2019 At one point, it approached land at a distance of just 100 meters, with passengers posting dramatic photos. But the crew was eventually able to start one of the engines and avoided crashing. “If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster,” Hans Vik, the head of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told TV2. Rescue services airlifted 479 passengers onto a helicopter before the weather improved and the Viking Sky could be towed. Twenty people required hospitalization as a result, the vessel’s operators said. The passengers were mainly elderly citizens from the US and Britain. People on board shared ‘Titanic’-style videos and photos with panels falling from the ceiling and furniture, including tables, chairs, and even a piano, sliding back and forth. The passengers said they were terrified the ship would capsize as it helplessly drifted in waves of up to eight meters. Also on rt.com ‘We feared the ship would capsize’: Witnesses recall ‘horrific’ hours aboard Norwegian cruise liner “We were having lunch when it began to shake. Window panes were broken and water came in. It was just chaos,” an American passenger said in an interview with NRK. “The last few hours on board the ship were some of the most terrifying [moments] we have ever experienced,” another passenger added. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!