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How did the Hurtigruten ships fare during the storm Viking Sky had to deal with?


RMLincoln
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1 hour ago, hallasm said:

Hurtigruten certainly took a hit financial.

 

They are used to this type of delays, as they are not a rare occurence, particularly in winter. Delays and missed ports happen more often in the North than in the South though, it is not unusual for instance that the ships terminate their Northbound journey sheltered in Alta and passengers have to be flown to Kirkenes and back. I suspect all these "extra risk expenses" are taken into account when fixing the price of the tickets.

I also don't quite see the point in the comparison with the Martha's Vineyard Ferries. While Viking Sky is heavier than Hurtigruten ships, Hurtigruten ships are definitely larger and heavier than MV Ferries, have different shapes and build and MV Ferries would not fare well in Norwegian waters (nor should they be expected to).

In case the original question was out of concern for security and welfare during a Hurtigruten trip, I hope the discussion has reassured you that Hurtigruten ships do fare well in bad weather, and Hurtigruten's crew have extensive knowledge of Norwegian coastal conditions and will not take risks. There were very few incidents that I can think of in recent years. The worst was when there was an engine fire (I think it was onboard Nordlys?) a few years back with casualties among the crew. A ship also hit a low rock between two islets outside Trollfjord (the ships now do not take that passage when navigating Trollfjord) but no one was injured.

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I said that the Martha’s Vineyard Ferries felt similar to Hurtigruten. Having been on both, that is my opinion. I have acknowledged that both are built for their own needs. I also compared how heavy the Viking Sky and Hurtigruten’s ships are and found that the Viking ship is heavier, and seeing that Hurtigruten chose to stay put was I thought a wise choice. 

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  • 2 months later...

We were on the Lofoten that night and remained in port, missing two ports that they would have hit during the night.  They did a super job.  BTW the Lofoten is the oldest and smallest ship in their fleet, has no stabilizers and carries only about 100 pax.  We loved it.

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  • 1 month later...

Didn't realize there was such a new posting to this thread. I've come back just to check on any additional activity since the Viking Sky incident was discussed. I still am not dissuaded from the thought that the Sky should have put in to either Trondheim or Molde rather than risking the storm. Guess we'll never hear more about it, but would love to know what the inside track on it was during the investigation. 

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I did check the aibn (accident investigation board Norway) web. Still under investigation 

Did link to the article with additional information like “no rules prevented Viking Sky from sailing” and “Two Norwegian coastal pilots were onboard to advise the Sky's Finnish captain.”

The question is still why three out of four engines conked out simultaneously.

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Edited by hallasm
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Thanks for the link hallasm. The fact that Viking Sky was allowed to sail (of course it would) does not mean that it should 🙂 and pilots on board are mandatory in Norwegian waters to get in and out some ports, but ultimately the decision to sail or not is only up to the captain. But I agree with you that the main problem seems to be the engine failure (although the first info that I read on this seemed to say that at least part of the failure was linked to the movement of the ship in the waves, and its consequences on engine oil level, not sure if that still holds).

 

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7 hours ago, SarniaLo said:

Thanks for the link hallasm. The fact that Viking Sky was allowed to sail (of course it would) does not mean that it should 🙂 and pilots on board are mandatory in Norwegian waters to get in and out some ports, but ultimately the decision to sail or not is only up to the captain. But I agree with you that the main problem seems to be the engine failure (although the first info that I read on this seemed to say that at least part of the failure was linked to the movement of the ship in the waves, and its consequences on engine oil level, not sure if that still holds).

 

As you can see upthread, we were on the Lofoten that night and stayed in port.  I'm also surprised that the decision to sail or not is only up to the captain.  Really?  I would think there are higher ups who have the final say.

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1 hour ago, clo said:

 I'm also surprised that the decision to sail or not is only up to the captain.  Really?  I would think there are higher ups who have the final say.

The captain is the higher ups on board. Yes, ultimately the decision should be his, that's his job, and he's supposed to have the proper training and capacities and experiences to make the best decision for the safety of the ship and crew and passengers. If things go bad, the responsibilities is his also.

Are you thinking that he was forced to sail by the cruise company for business reasons?

 

 

 

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50 minutes ago, SarniaLo said:

Are you thinking that he was forced to sail by the cruise company for business reasons?

 

Not at all.  But I just guessed that if it were a decision that didn't have to be made on the spur of the moment - sail or not sail, not the engine failure issue - that he would make his recommendation and they would (generally) accept it.  But I deliberately wrote "guessed."

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