Liner reaches port after day of drama
● Ex-Proteas captain Graeme Smith’s parents among hundreds of passengers airlifted to safety as cruise ship runs into trouble off Norway
A cruise liner that ran into trouble in stormy seas off Norway reached port under its own steam on Sunday after hundreds of passengers were winched to safety by helicopter earlier in a spectacular and difficult rescue operation.
Former Proteas cricket captain Graeme Smith’s parents were on board and also airlifted off the ship.
Escorted by tugboats, the Viking Sky arrived in the port of Molde at about 5.15pm SA time, television images showed.
Nearly a third of its 1,373 passengers and crew had already been airlifted off the stricken cruise liner.
The Viking Sky lost power and started drifting on Saturday afternoon 2km off a stretch of Norwegian coastline notorious for shipwrecks.
The captain sent out a Mayday call, which prompted authorities to launch the airlift in difficult conditions rather than run the risk of leaving people on board.
About 460 of the 1,373 people on the ship had been taken off by five helicopters before the airlift was halted.
Police said 17 people had been taken to hospital.
One person – aged over 90 – and two 70-year-olds suffered serious fractures.
With three of four engines restarted on Sunday, two tugs towed the vessel away from dangerous reefs before it set sail for Molde, 500km northwest of Oslo, under its own power.
Dramatic footage of the passengers’ ordeal showed furniture and plants sliding around the lurching vessel as parts of the ceiling came down.
Dozens of passengers wearing life jackets were seen seated waiting to get off the ship.
“I have never seen anything so frightening,” Janet Jacob, who was rescued, said.
“I started to pray. I prayed for the safety of everyone on board,” she told a television channel.
“The helicopter trip was terrifying. The winds were like a tornado.”
Another passenger, American John Curry, was quoted by the Norwegian media as saying: “We were sitting down for breakfast when things started to shake – it was just chaos.”
Passenger Rodney Horgan said he had been reminded of the Titanic.
“The best word, I guess, is surreal,” he said.
“Sea water six-seven feet [about two metres] high just came rushing in, hit the tables, chairs, broken glass and 20 to 30 people just went right in front of me.
“I was standing, my wife was sitting in front of me and all of a sudden, she was gone. “I thought this was the end.” But it all ended well for Ryan Flynn.
“Here’s my 83-year-old dad being airlifted from the #vikingsky.
“We are all off the ship safely!” he said.
The ship was sailing south from Tromso to Stavanger when engine trouble struck mid-afternoon on Saturday in an area off More og Romsdal that has claimed many vessels.
“It is dangerous to encounter engine problems in these waters, which hide numerous reefs,” Tor Andre Franck, the head of police operations, said.
A reception centre was set up in a gym on shore for the evacuees, many of whom were elderly and from the US and Britain.
The area where the ship got into problems, known as Hustadvika, is notoriously difficult to navigate.
The shallow, 10-nauticalmile section of coastline is dotted with islands and reefs.
“Hustadvika is one of the most notorious maritime areas that we have,” Odd Roar Lange, a journalist specialising in tourism, told NRK.
In their time, the Vikings hesitated to venture into the Hustadvika, preferring instead to transport their boats by land from one fjord to another.
Operated by the Norwegian firm Viking Ocean Cruises, the Viking Sky was launched in 2017 with a capacity of 930 passengers plus crew.
In addition to US and British nationals, there were also passengers from 14 other countries on board, Fjeld said.
Smith took to Twitter on Saturday‚ saying: “My parents [on] board if anyone knows anything please message!”
Elise Aasen replied: “Hello from Norway.
“The national rescue command is reporting that they regard all passengers as safe‚ even though it takes time evacuating all by helicopters.
“More info in English in my feed. Best wishes for your parents.”
Smith said in an update later that his parents had been airlifted off the ship and were safe.–