The thought of being out at sea on a ship in trouble is frightening to say the least. Furniture flying around, broken glass, water coming in from the outside – one’s mind quickly jumps to the film Titanic (as well as the real-life sinking of the famous ship) and the terrible fate of its passengers. On Saturday, 23 March, a Norwegian cruise ship called the Viking Sky released a mayday call for help when it got in danger of running aground.
A Helicopter View The Viking Sky cruise ship off the coast of Norway. The vessel has been able to restart one of the engines and is now anchored two kilometres from land.
A Little Over 800 Passengers Still To Be Evacuated.#vikingsky#cruise pic.twitter.com/9YJZBZQGqG— ~Marietta (@iMariettaDavis) March 23, 2019
The luxury cruise liner’s engine failed just off the west coast of Norway, in extremely harsh weather conditions. The ship was also at a high risk of running aground. The sea was dangerously rough, and so evacuating passengers via lifeboats was impossible. A rescue team of helicopters was deployed to evacuate the 1,300 people on board.
Here is a look at how the events unfurled on the vessel, with some tweets from passengers themselves:
#Breaking: Just in – Out of an recent video on the #VikingSky Cruise Ship, shows that the ship also has taken in some water from the waves pounding on the ship in #Norway! There are now over 885 people aboard the ship. Video Credit: @oxman78 pic.twitter.com/jSGXNskEvm
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁ (@sotiridi) March 23, 2019
Just before the SHTF! #VikingSky #Mayday pic.twitter.com/NONvQl4dBr
— Alexus Sheppard 🏳️🌈 (@alexus309) March 23, 2019
Getting ready to get off the ship…we are safe and sound! #VikingSky pic.twitter.com/27S1Ezh3yX
— Ryan Flynn (@RyanDFlynn11) March 24, 2019
Of the 1,300 people on board, an estimated 890 passengers and crew couldn’t be evacuated by helicopter. On Sunday, 24 March, after approximately six hours of travelling at sea, two tug boats managed to attach themselves to the vessel and assisted in guiding the Viking Sky safely to dock in Molde, a town in western Norway.
#vikingsky safely at port in Molde pic.twitter.com/zbEW0pQHcU
— Sigurd Mjelve (@Sigmje) March 24, 2019
Among the passengers evacuated were former South African cricket captain Graeme Smith’s parents.
Thanks everyone, parents airlifted off safe and being assessed. Thank you to cruise staff and rescue workers.
Appreciate everyone’s support and messages. 🙏🙏
— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) March 23, 2019
Image source: Twitter @sotiridi
