Rescue from a storm-tossed sea

Helicopters carry passengers from disabled cruise ship to Norway

HELSINKI — Rescue workers off Norway’s western coast rushed to evacuate 1,300 passengers and crew by helicopter from a disabled cruise ship Saturday, winching them one-by-one to safety as heaving waves tossed the ship from side to side and high winds battered the operation.

The Viking Sky issued a mayday call as bad weather hit and engine problems caused it to start drifting toward the rocky shore, the Norwegian newspaper VG reported. Police in the western county of Moere og Romsdal said the crew, fearing the Viking Ocean Cruises ship would run aground, managed to anchor in Hustadvika Bay so the evacuations could take place.

Rescue teams with helicopters and boats were sent to evacuate the cruise ship despite wind gusts up to 43 mph and waves over 26 feet.

The majority of the cruise ship passengers were reportedly British and American tourists. About 180 have been evacuated, according to rescue officials.

Video and photos from people on the ship showed it heaving, with chairs and other furniture dangerously rolling from side to side. Waves broke some ship windows and icy water flowed over the feet of some passengers.

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

“I was afraid. I’ve never experienced anything so scary,” Janet Jacob, among the first group of passengers evacuated to the nearby town of Molde, told NRK. She said her helicopter ride to safety came amid strong winds “like a tornado,” prompting her to pray “for the safety of all aboard.”

American passenger John Curry told NRK he was having lunch as the cruise ship started to shake. “It was just chaos. The helicopter ride from the ship to shore I would rather not think about. It wasn’t nice,” Curry said.

Later, a cargo ship with nine crew members developed trouble nearby, and the Norwegian rescue service diverted two of the five helicopters working on the cruise ship to that rescue for a time.

Authorities told NRK that the storm prevented rescue workers from using life boats or tug boats to take passengers ashore. They added that the evacuation of the Viking Sky would continue into Sunday.

Officials said late Saturday night that three of the ship’s four engines had restarted and it was moving southwest — not toward shore.

[ODD ROAR LANGE/NTB SCANPIX] The cruise ship Viking Sky drifts after its engines failed in stormy weather near Hustadvika Bay off the west coast of Norway on Saturday. Helicopters were evacuating the ship’s 1,300 passengers as quickly as they could.