Terrifying rescue for cruise ship passengers
Rescue workers off Norway’s western coast rushed to evacuate 1300 passengers and crew from a disabled cruise ship by helicopter yesterday, winching them oneby-one to safety as heaving waves tossed the ship from side to side and high winds battered the operation.
The Norwegian newspaper VG said the Viking Sky cruise ship issued a mayday call as bad weather hit and engine problems caused it to start drifting toward the rocky shore. 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 Norwegian cities of Alesund and Trondheim, so the evacuations could take place.
Rescue teams with helicopters and boats were sent to evacuate the cruise ship under extremely difficult circumstances. Norwegian media reported gusts up to 51kmh and waves over 8m in an area known for its rough, frigid waters.
The majority of the cruise ship passengers were reportedly British and American tourists.
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 ship windows and cold 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 that 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 told the broadcaster.
NRK said one 90-year-oldman and his 70-year-old spouse on the ship were severely injured but did not say how that happened.
Later, reports emerged that a cargo ship with nine crew members was in trouble nearby, and the local Norwegian rescue service diverted two of the five helicopters working on the cruise ship to that rescue.
Authorities told NRK that a strong storm with high waves was preventing rescue workers from using life boats or tug boats to take passengers ashore.