1,300 people being evacuated from cruise ship off Norway coast due to engine problems

[Beamafar]

Although it's not an MSC ship involved, I thought there might some interest here in this story  (though, I expect the thread will be moved as it's not MSC related).

 

AROUND 1,300 PEOPLE are being airlifted from a cruise ship off the coast of Norway, according to emergency services. 

Police in the county of More og Romsdal received a report shortly after 2pm that a cruise ship, which has been identified as the Viking Sky, was experiencing engine problems. 

The ship sent an SOS message due to “engine problems in bad weather”, southern Norway’s rescue centre said on Twitter.

 

“The boat only has one working engine and the winds are rather strong. Therefore we would prefer to have the passengers on land rather than on board the ship,” a police chief said.

“It is dangerous to encounter engine problems in these waters which hide numerous reefs.”

By 4.30pm (2.30pm Irish time), 100 people had been evacuated, with four helicopters involved in the airlift. A reception centre has been set up on shore to accommodate the evacuees. 

Other boats have also been seen in the area.

 

 

Cruise ship Viking Sky drifting towards land

Edited March 23, 2019 by Beamafar

[Mattnvick]

57 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Although it's not an MSC ship involved, I thought there might some interest here in this story  (though, I expect the thread will be moved as it's not MSC related).

 

AROUND 1,300 PEOPLE are being airlifted from a cruise ship off the coast of Norway, according to emergency services. 

Police in the county of More og Romsdal received a report shortly after 2pm that a cruise ship, which has been identified as the Viking Sky, was experiencing engine problems. 

The ship sent an SOS message due to “engine problems in bad weather”, southern Norway’s rescue centre said on Twitter.

 

“The boat only has one working engine and the winds are rather strong. Therefore we would prefer to have the passengers on land rather than on board the ship,” a police chief said.

“It is dangerous to encounter engine problems in these waters which hide numerous reefs.”

By 4.30pm (2.30pm Irish time), 100 people had been evacuated, with four helicopters involved in the airlift. A reception centre has been set up on shore to accommodate the evacuees. 

Other boats have also been seen in the area.

 

 

Cruise ship Viking Sky drifting towards land

 

 

Just watched a video of the rescue on ABC weather looks grim. Another ship in the area also just sent out a Mayday due to the weather and issues.

 

Someone on board on the HAL site says everyone is very calm and the capt doing a good job of informing them all. 

 

Hell of job for the helicopter pilots and apparently the rescue will continue all night. Some pax got minor injuries (due to flying glass) not to mention wet when  a  window in the MDR gave way. It was being used as a muster station.

 

Hope the rescue continues smoothly and the ship when empty can limp to a port for repairs. Mother nature can be a beast when she flexes her muscles.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Mattnvick

[abbflex]

Lots of local norwegians has voulentered at shore taking csre of the evacueted passengers at a sports center where the helicopter lands.  Before they get transported to hotels in Molde. 

[sidari]

Captain has issued an abandon ship order and winds became too strong for the helicopters to continue flying.

[Mattnvick]

5 minutes ago, sidari said:

Captain has issued an abandon ship order and winds became too strong for the helicopters to continue flying.

So lifeboats to be lowered then Sidari? Not a fun exercise in those seas. Lets hope and pray all goes ok for everyone involved 

[Beamafar]

"Various reports indicate that a cargo ship which was attempting to aid the Viking Sky also suffered engine troubles and is also in need of assistance." 

 

 

There's another story about a HAL ship:

 

Meanwhile, a passenger aboard Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam reported Saturday morning via their Twitter account @STLRS that the ship was “adrift… with no power for propulsion and only one of four generators working for emergency power.” The passenger later tweeted an update in which he said that the ship “now has ‘limited’ propulsion and [was] no longer ‘adrift.’ Captain is keeping everyone well informed and is a calming presence. Parts of ship remain in blackout.”

Edited March 23, 2019 by Beamafar

[CruisingFox27]

Reports stating they've regained engine power and there are tug boats assisting. Several videos from onboard posted on social media, looks a very frightening situation. The passengers have been saying that the crew have been fantastic. Hopefully,  all will be evacuated safely. 

 

Also hope the weather improves, that's our next itinerary! 

[gkbiiii]

Now Viking is a Luxury Line, so we will how they handle this. 

[styles27]

I guess it’s too rough for tugboat assistance?  I hope everyone will be safe...scary for them that’s for sure.

[Essiesmom]

Very long thread on the Viking Ocean board

 

 

[Beamafar]

7 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Reports stating they've regained engine power and there are tug boats assisting. Several videos from onboard posted on social media, looks a very frightening situation. The passengers have been saying that the crew have been fantastic. Hopefully,  all will be evacuated safely. 

 

Also hope the weather improves, that's our next itinerary! 

 

The latest is that 3 of the 4 engines are working:

 

"Three of the Viking Sky ship's four engines are working, and the ship has restarted and is moving at a slow pace, said spokesman Per Fjeld of Joint Rescue Centre for Southern Norway. Rescuers are still evacuating passengers and crew -- even as tug boats try pull it to shore -- but there's no estimate on how long it'll take to get them all out, he said."

 

As you say, CF, let's hope everyone gets off safely.

 

I was thinking that you had one coming up;  hopefully you'll have better weather.

 

 

[CruisingFox27]

According to the latest reports, the ship has turned around and is note able to head, albeit slowly to port. Helicopter evacuations have been suspended. Although they are escorting the ship in case of further medical evacuations. 

 

Further videos posted show it to be awfully scary but everyone seems very calm, in the circumstances. 

 

Sure it'll be grand when we sail. It would appear, from the initial reports of an unfortunate combination of engine failure and bad weather.

 

There is always an incident of some nature just before or just after, at every location we visit 🙄

 

 

[travelplus]

My heart and prayers go out to everyone involved. May everyone be safe and that no lives are lost. Kudos to all the volunteers. 

[Beamafar]

3 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

According to the latest reports, the ship has turned around and is note able to head, albeit slowly to port. Helicopter evacuations have been suspended. Although they are escorting the ship in case of further medical evacuations. 

 

Further videos posted show it to be awfully scary but everyone seems very calm, in the circumstances. 

 

Sure it'll be grand when we sail. It would appear, from the initial reports of an unfortunate combination of engine failure and bad weather.

 

There is always an incident of some nature just before or just after, at every location we visit 🙄

 

 

 

Plus the drama you had last year on account of the snow caused by that weird conflation of 2 extreme weather systems.  

[Frode]

18 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Although it's not an MSC ship involved, I thought there might some interest here in this story  (though, I expect the thread will be moved as it's not MSC related).

You´re so right! 😮
Why in the world write about this - which is about Viking Cruises (i e the cruise vessel MS Viking Sky) - on the MSC forum? 🙄 I think for sure that we all know how to look for information at the Viking Cruises forum.

I wonder  how it would look if everyone was constantly posting information about all other ships/shipping companies on all forums?! 😵

 

Edited March 24, 2019 by Frode

[Beamafar]

Feel better now?

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, Frode said:

You´re so right! 😮
Why in the world write about this - which is about Viking Cruises (i e the cruise vessel MS Viking Sky) - on the MSC forum? 🙄 I think for sure that we all know how to look for information at the Viking Cruises forum.

I wonder  how it would look if everyone was constantly posting information about all other ships/shipping companies on all forums?! 😵

 

 

Some people only look at a few forums but may still think that it's interesting news.

 

You could have ignored this thread and you defenitely didn't needed to post in this thread.

[sidari]

Can you point us to the posts you mention that everyone is constantly posting regarding other cruise lines on the MSC boards ?

[sverigecruiser]

19 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Although it's not an MSC ship involved, I thought there might some interest here in this story  (though, I expect the thread will be moved as it's not MSC related).

 

AROUND 1,300 PEOPLE are being airlifted from a cruise ship off the coast of Norway, according to emergency services. 

Police in the county of More og Romsdal received a report shortly after 2pm that a cruise ship, which has been identified as the Viking Sky, was experiencing engine problems. 

The ship sent an SOS message due to “engine problems in bad weather”, southern Norway’s rescue centre said on Twitter.

 

“The boat only has one working engine and the winds are rather strong. Therefore we would prefer to have the passengers on land rather than on board the ship,” a police chief said.

“It is dangerous to encounter engine problems in these waters which hide numerous reefs.”

By 4.30pm (2.30pm Irish time), 100 people had been evacuated, with four helicopters involved in the airlift. A reception centre has been set up on shore to accommodate the evacuees. 

Other boats have also been seen in the area.

 

 

Cruise ship Viking Sky drifting towards land

 

Thank you for posting this. In Sweden it's the first thing they talk about in the news but in many other countries they probably don't say anything about it.

[Mattnvick]

1 hour ago, Frode said:

You´re so right! 😮
Why in the world write about this - which is about Viking Cruises (i e the cruise vessel MS Viking Sky) - on the MSC forum? 🙄 I think for sure that we all know how to look for information at the Viking Cruises forum.

I wonder  how it would look if everyone was constantly posting information about all other ships/shipping companies on all forums?! 😵

 

 

Wow what exactly was the point of this?

 

Bea was informing that's all.

 

Why you needed to be so rude is beyond me.

 

If you cant say something nice use the scroll button and keep going. 

[CruisingFox27]

Just now, Mattnvick said:

 

Wow what exactly was the point of this?

 

Bea was informing that's all.

 

Why you needed to be so rude is beyond me.

 

If you cant say something nice use the scroll button and keep going. 

 

Absolutely spot on.

 

Although it isn't an MSC ship it is of interest to people with an interest in cruising in general, particularly those of us traveling to the region.

 

Lots of threads are not relevant to me, I scroll on by without feeling compelled to post rude comments!

[Beamafar]

3 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

 

Wow what exactly was the point of this?

 

Bea was informing that's all.

 

Why you needed to be so rude is beyond me.

 

If you cant say something nice use the scroll button and keep going. 

 

I wondered what the point was, too!  I certainly don't go around the various forums looking for breaking news!  In fact, apart from this one, roll calls and ports of call forums, I very rarely read anything else.

 

I posted it here for the reason I outlined in the OP with the knowledge that the mods may deem it inappropriate for this forum, but wanted to share it with fellow cruisers who may not read the general cruise news forum, either.

[Mattnvick]

2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

I wondered what the point was, too!  I certainly don't go around the various forums looking for breaking news!  In fact, apart from this one, roll calls and ports of call forums, I very rarely read anything else.

 

I posted it here for the reason I outlined in the OP with the knowledge that the mods may deem it inappropriate for this forum, but wanted to share it with fellow cruisers who may not read the general cruise news forum, either.

 

Exactly Bea and the mods are obviously ok with it and saw it for exactly that as its still here.

 

Looks like Mr/Mrs/Ms Frode got out of bed the wrong side and neglected  to take their happiness pill. 

[CruisingFox27]

More importantly, the good news - the Viking Sky has now docked in Molde, ship and passengers are now safe.

[Mattnvick]

11 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

More importantly, the good news - the Viking Sky has now docked in Molde, ship and passengers are now safe.

 

That is wonderful news and so good to hear all the positive things said about crew and captain from those that have been interviewed in the media. 

 

I'm sure it's been a terrible ordeal and not im sure anything they envisaged when they boarded.

 

Happy that although there has been some injuries it doesn't sound like anything too, too serious. 

 

In many ways we are all at the mercy of Mother Nature when we board a cruise ship.

Edited March 24, 2019 by Mattnvick