Viking Sky position, adrift off Norway Coast and evacuating Passengers & Crew

[photopro2]

1 hour ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

Airlift was undoubtedly the best way but sure hope to never have to do it again. That churning water sure looked a LONG way down there while hanging with just that small belt around the waist. Amazimg experience in the helicopter as well. Quite a view of the Sky on the way up to the chopper. 

 

Thanks for informing us of your first hand experiences gretschwhtfalcon. It is clear from what you and others directly involved have said that the response of the crew, the company and the people of Norway have been exemplary. But maybe there is something special about Viking passengers too?...

I say this because of the consistenty in the way people have apparently taken these events in their stride and later described what happened in an entertaining but level headed and unsensational manner, just as you have. 

You all come across (passengers, crew and locals alike) as exactly the sort of people we enjoy spending time with and we can't wait until our own Viking trip to Norway in June. 

 

      

Edited March 24, 2019 by photopro2
Grammer :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have been following this thread -- so glad that the ship has made it to Molde.

 

And I imagine that the passengers and crew are very happy as well.

 

Prayers have been answered.

 

Hopefully those who were injured will recover quickly.

[OnTheJourney]

3 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

 

Thanks for informing us of your first hand experiences gretschwhtfalcon. It is clear from what you and others directly involved have said that the response of the crew, the company and the people of Norway have been exemplary. But maybe there is something special about Viking passengers too?...

I say this because of the consistenty in the way people have apparently taken these events in their stride and later described what happened in an entertaining but level headed and unsensational manner, just as you have. 

You all come across (passengers and crew and locals alike) as exactly the sort of people we enjoy spending time with and we can't wait until our own Viking trip to Norway in June. 

 

      

 

Thanks for your kind words. We all hung together, supported and helped one another. The relaxed attitude and camaraderie here at the hotel has almost been like a reunion of old friends!  Still I woke up many times last night reliving the experience of seeing all the slack go out of that winch line as my feet were suddenly lifted off the ship. You KNOW it’s gonna happen but still......Guess some folks would pay for something like that?  More exciting than ANYthing that was on the optional shore excursion list!!!

[UniPac]

Glad to see she is back at safe port.

OT: Would be glad if not so many posters just hit „quote“ and reply with a full quote... would make the whole thread much more readable and result in half the pages or less.

[OnTheJourney]

Sorry.....I’m as guilt as anyone of simply hitting quote. Just adds to the length of the thread as you said. 😉. 

[gatour]

14 minutes ago, GGrace said:

Is it a surprise to the shipbuilders that water could "come crashing through the dining room window" ? If not, why were there passengers in there? Makes me think twice and thrice about ever sailing in a balcony cabin in these days of climate change. Normally "portholes" (windows directly on the hull of the ship) are small and well-reinforced - even the square passenger windows.

 

Looking forward to hearing how passengers were mustered, whether there was the option of staying in an inside cabin in bed with tucked-in blankets, whether anyone was hit from stuff coming down from the ceiling. Good stuff here about deploying lifeboats in heavy weather (I've tendered in lifeboats: everyone would have been seasick and the smell would be terrible.)

 

For experienced sailors: where would you settle yourself for a long term heavy weather? Would you change this location if you knew running aground was a possibility? What happens if a modern cruise ship runs aground in windy weather - would it take on water and perhaps even sink? (Patrick O'Brian fan here - always curious about life at sea.) Apologies if some of these questions have been answered; will read the entire thread in a bit.

Have you heard of the Costa Concordia?  It basically did a close pass near an island on Captain's orders to either impress someone or some other reason.  The ship ran across rocks which caused a gash which caused flooding.

 

The ship engines shutdown, the ship then drifted for a few hours at the mercy of the currents/winds (there was no storm going on).  The ship eventually drifted into a reef which caused it to list and partially sink.

 

About one third of the passengers had just boarded the ship and had not gone through muster drill (at the time muster drills had to occur within 24 hours of sailing)

 

The captain never ordered passengers to muster stations.  There is a protocol where an immediate inspection needs to take place in these type of instances.  Based on the inspections which would be around 15 minutes, the captain should have ordered people to muster stations.  Between the time that the inspections would have occurred and the time when the order to abandon ship, would have given time to get passenger to the correct muster stations even if they hadn't attended the muster drill.

 

There was a 2-3 hour gap between initial incident and the order to abandon ship with no call to muster stations.  I believe if the captain had called people to muster stations, there would not have been 32 deaths.

[Hunding]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

This explains it (from Norwegian Star):

 

 

Are these not called "arks?"  I was on a cruise two weeks ago, and, walking a rotation of a promenade deck, came upon four of these very large "boxes," much taller and wider than a man, at the extreme ends of the decks on both sides of the ship.  My recollection is they were labelled ARK, with a similar diagram to the one above.

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

 That's a little heartless don't you think? 

 

No.  Is it the crew's job to look after the safety and wellbeing of the passengers?

 

Edit: I did say they should be compensated.

Edited March 24, 2019 by zitsky

[CharTrav]

4 minutes ago, gatour said:

Have you heard of the Costa Concordia?  It basically did a close pass near an island on Captain's orders to either impress someone or some other reason.  The ship ran across rocks which caused a gash which caused flooding.

 

The ship engines shutdown, the ship then drifted for a few hours at the mercy of the currents/winds (there was no storm going on).  The ship eventually drifted into a reef which caused it to list and partially sink.

 

About one third of the passengers had just boarded the ship and had not gone through muster drill (at the time muster drills had to occur within 24 hours of sailing)

 

The captain never ordered passengers to muster stations.  There is a protocol where an immediate inspection needs to take place in these type of instances.  Based on the inspections which would be around 15 minutes, the captain should have ordered people to muster stations.  Between the time that the inspections would have occurred and the time when the order to abandon ship, would have given time to get passenger to the correct muster stations even if they hadn't attended the muster drill.

 

There was a 2-3 hour gap between initial incident and the order to abandon ship with no call to muster stations.  I believe if the captain had called people to muster stations, there would not have been 32 deaths.

Let us not forget that the captain of that ship also abandoned the ship.  So not only did he behave like a complete idiot and cause the ship to capsize, he abandoned his passengers to their fate. Took care of #1. For his dereliction of duty that lead to 32 deaths he was sentenced to 16 years in jail. Where he is today. 

[CCWineLover]

28 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

 

Thanks for informing us of your first hand experiences gretschwhtfalcon. It is clear from what you and others directly involved have said that the response of the crew, the company and the people of Norway have been exemplary. But maybe there is something special about Viking passengers too?...

I say this because of the consistenty in the way people have apparently taken these events in their stride and later described what happened in an entertaining but level headed and unsensational manner, just as you have. 

You all come across (passengers, crew and locals alike) as exactly the sort of people we enjoy spending time with and we can't wait until our own Viking trip to Norway in June. 

 

      

 

I think you hit on something photopro2 - I do believe there is something about Viking Cruise passengers that is special. We have seen it ourselves and have even remarked about it - so different than other ships, in our opinion.  Again, Viking not for everyone, but we are glad to have discovered them as they fit our likes and preferences to a tee - including the passenger set!

And we do enjoy meeting those kinds of people on these cruises! 

We head to Barcelona in April to go on the newer Viking Jupiter - so looking forward to it.

[CharTrav]

Btw - just checked the VO site and found this - https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html

shouod allay the concerns of some of you. 

[Aplmac]

17 minutes ago, UniPac said:

Glad to see she is back at safe port.

OT: Would be glad if not so many posters just hit „quote“

and reply with a full quote... would make the whole thread

much more readable -and result in half the pages or less.

.

It's easy and practical to edit the quote you're responding to.

It's allowed: legal, even! Reduce it to the salient bits. I do it all the time.

Not difficult. Craft your response before hurriedly clicking on Post!

[CCWineLover]

22 minutes ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

 

Thanks for your kind words. We all hung together, supported and helped one another. The relaxed attitude and camaraderie here at the hotel has almost been like a reunion of old friends!  Still I woke up many times last night reliving the experience of seeing all the slack go out of that winch line as my feet were suddenly lifted off the ship. You KNOW it’s gonna happen but still......Guess some folks would pay for something like that?  More exciting than ANYthing that was on the optional shore excursion list!!!

 

Love your attitude, gretashwhtfalcon.  And those around you!   Really appreciate the good stories of crew AND passengers and getting through this difficult time.  Just think!  You and your fellow cruisemates will have a lot to share in the future - perhaps even stronger friendships and maybe even some "reunions" !!

[Presto2]

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 6:41 PM, Presto2 said:

 

Am guessing that sometimes people post things that may be sensationalist. Not saying it is, but would no be surprised --- I can not imagine that they are in muster stations knee deep in water ……… they are 7 decks up I imagine. Doesn't help people with family on there though. Some people are idiots posting rubbish (i.e. on Twitter) --- shame on them.

 

I posted this yesterday afternoon and wanted to apologise to the original poster as it actually was real footage. I feel terrible now that it was actually real. I was being cynical at the time and thinking that it really could not have been that terrible and that someone was posting rubbish on Twitter (like they do). It was all 'happening' at the time and felt cross for family.

 

Anyway, just glad that everyone is ok and folk are on their way home tonight. x

 

[CILCIANRQTS]

15 minutes ago, Hunding said:

 

Are these not called "arks?"  I was on a cruise two weeks ago, and, walking a rotation of a promenade deck, came upon four of these very large "boxes," much taller and wider than a man, at the extreme ends of the decks on both sides of the ship.  My recollection is they were labelled ARK, with a similar diagram to the one above.

 

You have a good remembery!

 

https://www.wartsila.com/encyclopedia/term/marin-ark-the-evacuation-system-from-rfd

[Presto2]

12 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

No.  Is it the crew's job to look after the safety and wellbeing of the passengers?

 

Edit: I did say they should be compensated.

 

If you think you are funny or amusing you are misguided.

[Dekksguten]

Helmet cam footage from one of the rescue squads. 

[CCWineLover]

1 minute ago, Dekksguten said:

Helmet cam footage from one of the rescue squads. 

 

Wow!  THis makes it even more real!  I can't even imagine taking that ride up!  What a job the Norway resuce crew did!

[ABoatNerd]

56 minutes ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

 

Missed Bodo.....again (as I just referred to). Was told there was no tug to help us in (?). Doesn’t quite make sense considering these itineraries are set well over a year in advance

 

Like others, trying to keep up.

 

gretschwhtfalcon - was the missed port Bodo, on this specific voyage?  No tug to assist is bull. 

 

To anyone on this awful voyage - this is important.

 

Missing a port or being late to a port can indicate a mechanical issue with a vessel, especially when there is no weather/dock strike etc.  The history of this particular voyage and the voyage or 2 before is material in this incident.

 

 

[CharTrav]

8 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

No.  Is it the crew's job to look after the safety and wellbeing of the passengers?

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Should have pruned your quote to the part I thought a bit heartless (was thinking the phrase that ends with “faint praise” but chose different words to ensure CCforum censor wouldn’t blip the first word). What concerned me was this “Sure it’s nice. I wouldn’t call it amazing. It’s their job”.  Don’t disagree that it’s “their job” but that isn’t any guarantee. Look at the captain of the Costa Concordia. Just because “it’s their job” shouldn’t detract from our admiration for a job well done. Which the crew of the Sky clearly deserves. 

[Von & John]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Sorry I haven't answered the Batsignal, down in Boston with grandson, too much of a dinosaur to make long posts on the phone.  Heidi13 and SeaDog43 doing a good job on the operational side. I'll be back home tonight and will try to answer as much as possible.

@chengkp75

Wow - you saw the "Bat Signal" all the way down in Boston...

You are correct "Robin" & "Alfred" have risen to the occasion...

Looking forward to your responses!

[jagsfan]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

As opposed to 2500-5000 passengers, there are only 930 on Viking ships. 

Why have the reports been saying 1300?

That’s quite a difference!

[sbrayr]

How many people were actually evacuated versus the number who cruised to the port?

[Dekksguten]

3 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

Why have the reports been saying 1300?

 

400 crew members

[CharTrav]

3 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

Why have the reports been saying 1300?

That’s quite a difference!

Count the crew.