Cruise couple happy to be on dry land
Toowoomba couple among hundreds winched to safety from Norwegian cruise
A TOOWOOMBA couple who had been stuck on a stricken cruise liner off the coast of Norway say the experience hasn’t put them off travel or cruises.
Paul and Desley Francis had to be winched from the deck of the Viking Sky in the early hours of Sunday morning as part of a massive effort by Norwegian authorities to rescue hundreds of passengers from the vessel.
The Viking Sky had lost power to its engines after lunch on Saturday amid wild seas and strong winds.
Bruised and battered but otherwise okay, the couple said the care and support offered to them had been tremendous.
Mr Francis said the start of the cruise was “wonderful” but that things quickly took a turn for the worse on Saturday afternoon.
A TOOWOOMBA couple who were stuck on a stricken cruise liner off the coast of Norway say the experience hasn’t put them off travel or cruises, despite having to be winched to safety along with hundreds of other guests.
For 18 months, former Heritage Bank executive Paul Francis and his wife Desley had been looking forward to the “In Search of the Northern Lights” cruise of Norway onboard the Viking Sky as part of the couple’s retirement year of travel.
The start of the cruise was “wonderful”, Mr Francis said; the ocean and fjords were not only spectacular but “reasonably calm”.
Sailing from Bergen up the coast to Narvik, Alta, and then back to Tromso, the trip was without incident.
But after leaving Tromso for Bodo, the captain decided it was “too rough and windy” to complete the journey and the ship would stay at sea, Mr Francis said.
“At this stage it was a little rough but nothing to be concerned about.
“On Saturday around lunch time, it really started to get rough, and shortly after the ship started to list and pitch, and chairs, tables and everything else started to fly around, including us.”
Up on deck seven, the couple ended up on the floor with tables and chairs on top of them.
A little bruised, they escaped relatively unscathed from the incident.
“About 20 people had slightly more serious injuries including some broken bones. The sound of crashing plates, glass, and everything quickly made us aware it was a little serious,” Mr Francis said.
There was a call to muster stations and the captain announced he had made a mayday call and that there would be an evacuation because the engines had failed and the ship was drifting.
“If they had not been able to start one engine and anchor, things could have been very serious,” Mr Francis said.
Three helicopters went into action, winching passengers off the vessel and flying them, 20 at a time, to a small village about 40 minutes from the city of Molde. One of the helicopters was diverted to a nearby tanker that also got into trouble, Mr Francis said.
“We waited for a bit over 10 hours as we gradually moved up to the deck, and were winched off the ship about 1am, quite an experience,” Mr Francis said.
Met by volunteers, Red Cross workers and medical staff at the village, Mr Francis said the care and support offered to them was tremendous.
They were then taken by bus to a hotel in Molde.
“Despite the circumstances, the staff and crew of Viking Cruises were fantastic, including the chairman who flew from Switzerland to talk to us, the rescue people truly amazing, and the people on the ground well organised caring and helpful,” he said.
The ship made it to port in Molde, where the couple was able to collect their belongings.
“It certainly has not put us off travel or cruises, but we were pretty happy to see dry land,” he said.
The couple intends to head to London to meet up with family before heading to Singapore and then home to Toowoomba by early April.