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The Viking Sky cruise ship forced to evacuate nearly one-third of its passengers after itsuffered engine problemsamid stormy weather was safely headed back to shore Sunday, as those who left the vessel recalled the frightening ordeal.
The cruise ship sent out a distress signal Saturday after it experienced a “loss of engine power off the coast of Norway near Molde” with 915 guests and 458 crew on board, a Viking spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.
But as of 10 a.m. local time Sunday, the ship was safely traveling to Molde under its own power.
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TheAssociated Pressreported that authorities told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that the inclement weather was interfering with rescue efforts, as it prevented workers from using lifeboats as rescue vehicles.
Passenger Ryan Flynn shared video to Twitter of a crowd of passengers wearing life jackets as water flooded the ground beneath them.
He later shared footage of his 83-year-old father being airlifted off the ship and into a rescue helicopter.
Passenger David Hernandez also tracked the rescue on Twitter, praising the crew for ensuring passengers remained calm.
“Still on board #VikingSky 15 hours on. Awaiting evacuation. Crew has been fantastic keeping everyone calm and fed. Seas are still rough with winds of 40 knots,” hewrote.
Hernandez said he was eventually evacuated off the boat andreceived help from the Red Cross.
“It was just chaos,” passenger John Curry told NRK, according to theGuardian. “The helicopter ride from the ship to shore I would rather not think about. It wasn’t nice.”
Passengers Derek and Esther Browne also opened up about their experience, telling BBC Radio 5 Live it was “frightening.”
“We had a few people on stretchers, several with cuts, two with broken limbs, but fortunately we were all right. We were airlifted on to the helicopter, which was quite a frightening experience,” Derek said, according toThe Telegraph. “I’d never been in a helicopter before, there were a lot of high winds.”’
The outlet reports the rescue operation included four helicopters and several vessels, and that 60 volunteers from the Norwegian Red Cross took part.
“The worst thing I could say for me was walking to get in line for the helicopter,” Horgen told NRK, according toNBC News. “You had to walk past a lot of people and their faces. That was hard — I did not want to go.”
According tocruisemapper.com, the Viking Sky was in the middle of a 12-day trip. The ship departed from Bergen, Norway on March 14 and was expected to dock at a London port on March 26.
“Throughout all of this, our first priority was for the safety and wellbeing of our passengers and our crew,” a spokesperson for Viking said in a statement. “We would like to thank the Norwegian Redningssentral and the Norwegian emergency services for their support and skill displayed in managing the situation in very challenging weather conditions. We would also like to thank the local residents who throughout the whole process have been extremely supportive and hospitable.”
source: people.com
