Viking Sky position, adrift off Norway Coast and evacuating Passengers & Crew

[Krazy Kruizers]

26 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

And the "obvious" answer is that the worst place for a large cruise ship to be in a major storm is docked (or anchored) in a port!  The norm is to get the ship out to sea (where it is actually safer) and try to avoid the storm or the worst part of the storm.   In fact, most harbor masters will close ports in severe weather and request that ships depart....generally before the storm reaches the port.

 

What happened here is not necessarily related to the weather but to a major power failure (usually electrical).   None of us who routinely cruise (we have spent over 1000 days on cruise ships) or spend time at sea are "making light" of it!  In fact, I have texted a family member who is on that ship (she is doing fine) to express our concern and inquire about her well-being.  And as I posted earlier, she replied that they are doing OK and waiting to be rescued (they are still thinking by helicopter). 

 

What I find distressing are the comments (such as yours) that immediately want to point the finger of blame to something, or start asking about compensation.  Neither of those issues are appropriate at this point in time when over 1100 folks still remain on that vessel.  Trust me that my wife's cousin (who is on the ship and at her muster station) is only concerned about getting to land..   There will be plenty of time later to deal with the blame game.  For now, it is about saving lives.

 

Hank

 

Totally agree with everything you have said.  We have been in some mighty rough weather in that area but thankfully all engines were working.

 

So agree that ships have been ordered to leave ports when bad weather was approaching.

[jakkojakko]

All passengers off? I seriously doubt this with 30 passengers per hour that are being lifted off with helicopters. Or are yoy talking about the 9 crew on the freighter?

[Phnxgrl]

I can promise you the vast majority of passengers are still on board the cruise ship. 

[just_dont]

Report of three working engines on the Viking Sky for the time being, so the ship is slowly moving towards more calm waters. But the evacuation will continue for as long as needed, a spokesman for the rescue services said.

With 3 engines working, but quite slow progress (2-3 kts), I wonder if there are propulsion problems. Perhaps a damaged screw? Tracking reports indicated the ship did get quite close to running aground. In the swells, could they have brushed a reef?
Once everyone is safely ashore, it will be interesting to learn the extent of the damage.

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[TrumpyNor]

11 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Incident happened off western coast of Norway, latest all passengers off, thank goodness only a few injuries. The vessel initially lost power to both engines then managed to restart one which enabled them to get some steerage way. A freighter went to rescue also lost power so a couple of helecopters were diverted to assist her. Seas looked pretty high not surprising this time of year. Fingers crossed all is well for all. CA

 

7 minutes ago, jakkojakko said:

All passengers off? I seriously doubt this with 30 passengers per hour that are being lifted off with helicopters. Or are yoy talking about the 9 crew on the freighter?

 

Last report in Norwegian media is that 10  min. ago  a total number of 180 persons has been evacuated off the ship, that leaves around 1100 still on board...

 

EDIT: I just read that the exact number of people on board before the evacuation began was 1373 (incl crew), so close to 1200 still on board. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by TrumpyNor

[zitsky]

I think beating up on certain posters because they are speculating is a mistake.  There is some good information coming out but still much to know about what happened.  In the absence of information, people speculate, talk about lawyers etc.  Should we make it a rule that only people on that ship are allowed to post in this thread?

[AmazedByCruising]

17 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Speculation is the "ship of fools."  But we are talking about seas of around 8-10  meters (according to reports)  would not be a major problem for a cruise ship.  

 

That's true. 

With rumours about running engines, I'd want to stay on board at this time instead of being evacuated by a helicopter in the middle of the night, in a storm. Even if the engines would break down again and the ship would end up like Costa Concordia, it's still not sinking. I'd rather wait, but I do realize that I'm typing this in my living room.

[Palmetto Pilot]

4 minutes ago, just_dont said:

With 3 engines working, but quite slow progress (2-3 kts), I wonder if there are propulsion problems. Perhaps a damaged screw? Tracking reports indicated the ship did get quite close to running aground. In the swells, could they have brushed a reef?
Once everyone is safely ashore, it will be interesting to learn the extent of the damage.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

they are fighting 25-30kt winds too. probably the reason why they are moving slowly. Who knows what kind of damage the ship sustained.

[tgh]

Rescue tug Ocean response appears on track for a rendezvous, weather improving

[Zouave]

Viking's official statement:

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html

 

[Got2Cruise]

14 minutes ago, TrumpyNor said:

 

 

Last report in Norwegian media is that 10  min. ago  a total number of 180 persons has been evacuated off the ship, that leaves around 1100 still on board...

 

EDIT: I just read that the exact number of people on board before the evacuation began was 1373 (incl crew), so close to 1200 still on board. 

This is very scary because the lifeboats are useless. 

[GeezerCouple]

1 minute ago, Zouave said:

Viking's official statement:

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html

 

 

But Viking's official site statement read this way ("ship is proceeding on its own power") when it clearly was *not*.

And "a tugboat is on site" wasn't quite accurate, either, when they first posted that statement.

 

GC

[OBX Cruisers]

We were on the Viking Star in July 2015 on one of her first Baltic cruises. A brand new ship!  Were supposed to sail Stockholm to Bergen.  Shortly after St. Petersburg, she lost power in one of the engines but we were able to limp into Tallin, Estonia.  We sat there for 4 days before most of us were flown directly to Bergen for land tours.  Big inconvenience, but nothing like the passengers on the Sky are experiencing.  My biggest complaint was the lack of communication between headquarters and the ship.  We got a different story every few hours as to what our options were.  I felt sorry for the crew who weren't sure how to respond to our questions.  In Tallin, and again in Bergen, we were very well taken care of.  Afterwards, we were also very well compensated.  A huge help to be able to post on CruiseCritic during the whole event and afterwards.  We did enjoy one more Viking Star cruise - this time in the Caribbean not so far from home.  My prayers to the Sky passengers - your patience is going to be sorely tried!

[jiminyC_fan]

I was reading "somewhere else" and a lady posted an hour ago,

" We are onboard Viking Sky right now, injured passengers evacuated by helicopter. We are surrounded by helicopters and tug boats and moving a little now
Crew have been amazing
Its still very rough and we have alot of movement still.
Ship is in a real mess "

 

It's great to hear how the crew has been amazing!  😍

 

 

[Doris&Nereus]

We were on the Royal Princess from Southampton, UK to New York on September, 10 2018. Because of bad weather, we missed going to Bergen Norway on September 15th; Also, we did not stop in Belfast or Newfoundland, planned stops. Instead we went south and stopped in Azores. Although some of the passengers were not happy, and we had been to the Azores many times, we had a great time and the weather was great. This happened to us in 2017 when we missed Boston and went on to dock in NY on the Regal Princess. We also had a wonderful time on that crossing. IMO, I was at that time and am now so happy that those in charge thought about keeping us safe first. 

[AncientWanderer]

14 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

This is very scary because the lifeboats are useless. 

 

Can you, Got2Cruise, or anyone else with more nautical knowledge explain more about the lifeboats?  I had always thought that the modern lifeboats were designed to withstand just about anything -- tossing around, flipping over and righting themselves... all of that.  Obviously I was misinformed.  So are the lifeboats unusable in weather like this?

[Outerdog]

5 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Can you, Got2Cruise, or anyone else with more nautical knowledge explain more about the lifeboats?  I had always thought that the modern lifeboats were designed to withstand just about anything -- tossing around, flipping over and righting themselves... all of that.  Obviously I was misinformed.  So are the lifeboats unusable in weather like this?

 

The danger lies in launching the lifeboats -- then getting people on them -- with the ship rolling like that.

[AncientWanderer]

Just now, Outerdog said:

 

The danger lies in launching the lifeboats -- then getting people on them -- with the ship rolling like that.

 

That, of course, makes sense.  As does the danger of trying to keep them navigated away from the shore.  Odd that after years of cruising, a situation like this one has never occurred to me. 

Much food for thought.  Such a dreadful experience for those on this ship.

 

[GeezerCouple]

3 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

The danger lies in launching the lifeboats -- then getting people on them -- with the ship rolling like that.

 

IF you could get people into them/once the people are in them, are the lifeboats really safe in seas like this?

GC

[kathy49]

reports say that tugboats are going to try to take the ship to Molde.

[Outerdog]

1 minute ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

IF you could get people into them/once the people are in them, are the lifeboats really safe in seas like this?

GC

 

"Safe" is a term relative to the conditions one is comparing. If the ship is done for a la Titanic, then I'd say the lifeboats are a safe place to be.

[Got2Cruise]

4 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

reports say that tugboats are going to try to take the ship to Molde.

That’s what my husband said why can’t tug boats come. 

 

I know nothing about WHY the lifeboats are not being used. I only know that I had no idea that there ever was a situation when they can’t and it’s horrifying to know. 

[Pushka]

In the case of the Concordia and now Sky, they were unable to use the lifeboats. So it does beg the question of what they can actually be used for in emergency situations like these two. 

[just_dont]

 
IF you could get people into them/once the people are in them, are the lifeboats really safe in seas like this?

GC

I'm sure the lifeboats would be plenty safe. As mentioned before, with the CURRENT condition of the ship, it's safer for non-injured passengers to just stay on the ship than it would be to attempt to transfer them into a lifeboat.
There would be a point when a ship could be in much more dire condition that it WOULD be safer for the pax to try to get them into the lifeboats.
Thankfully, Viking Sky never got to that point.

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[Lucid Butterfly]

9 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

Looks pretty scary out there.  Hope everyone stays safe.

Please be safe....I am praying for you folks!