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More than 1,000 people are being evacuated by helicopter from the cruise ship Viking Sky on the Norwegian coastline today. The ship has run into problems in high winds on a notorious stretch of water known as Hustadvika in Møre og Romsdal county, about 2.5 nautical miles from shore. It had been traveling from Tromsø in the far north of Norway down to Stavanger when the problems struck.
It was later able to restart one engine and is now anchored about 1.5 miles from land and no longer adrift.
Images from a passing fishing trawler show two rescue helicopters assisting the ship.
originally posted by: ignorant_ape
a reply to: LookingAtMars
Hmm - with 4 MAN deisels - less than 3 years old - its likley contaminated fuel - or the engineering section needs replacing [ crew ]
Rescue helicopters took more than 475 passengers from a cruise ship that got stranded off Norway’s western coast in bad weather before the vessel departed for a nearby port under escort and with nearly 900 people still on board, the ship’s owner said Sunday.
Viking Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen praised the rescue operation by Norwegian authorities and the actions of the vessel’s crew.
He told Norway’s VG newspaper that the events surrounding the Viking Sky were “some of the worst I have been involved in, but now it looks like it’s going well in the end and that we’ve been lucky.”
Police said the crew, fearing the ship would run aground, managed to anchor in Hustadvika Bay so the evacuations could take place. A tug boat and two other vessels were assisting the Viking Sky travel from the bay to Molde.
Coast guard official Emil Heggelund estimated to newspaper VG that the ship was 100 meters (328 feet) from striking rocks under the water and 900 meters (2,953 feet) from shore when it stopped.