MV Viking Sky evacuated off coast of Norway with engine problems

[Ray66]

About 1,300 people are being evacuated from a cruise ship off the western coast of Norway, authorities have said.

Police in the county of More og Romsdal say the ship has suffered engine problems, and all those aboard are being taken to shore.

Norway's sea rescue agency said the MV Viking Sky sent out a distress signal amid high waves and strong winds.

Five helicopters and several ships are taking part in the evacuation, the agency said.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47680055

 

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-03-23/1-300-evacuated-from-cruise-ship-off-norwegian-coast-after-mayday-call-in-heavy-winds/

Edited March 23, 2019 by Ray66

[MicCanberra]

Goodness, I have been watching some of the videos all morning. Terrible but luckily it looks like most will get off.

[Catmomma]

Cant wait to hear the stories from those who are aboard.  I am going on a similar itinerary in October and this sounds terrifying!

[MicCanberra]

3 minutes ago, Catmomma said:

Cant wait to hear the stories from those who are aboard.  I am going on a similar itinerary in October and this sounds terrifying!

There are quite a few you tube clips that passengers have put up.

[Catmomma]

yep just got into Twitter feed.  Ugh.  I feel for everyone aboard.  Hopefully this ends well for everyone and is just a story to tell the grandkids some day.  Very scary!

[MicCanberra]

Viking is relatively new to ocean cruising, I wonder if it was an old ship or a new build for them.

 

Just checked, MV Viking Sky is a cruise ship which was launched in 2016 and entered service in 2017. She is operated by Viking Ocean Cruises.

[Ray66]

I haven't seen any youtube clips but BBC just showed some footage of things inside the ship falling onto people and another clip showed everyone in their life jackets.  You think/hope you'll never have to wear one but it just shows that it can happen.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, Ray66 said:

I haven't seen any youtube clips but BBC just showed some footage of things inside the ship falling onto people and another clip showed everyone in their life jackets.  You think/hope you'll never have to wear one but it just shows that it can happen.

Yep, scary stuff, one video shows the people reacting to the get to the muster station signal.

[Ray66]

200 Britons on board according to reports

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47684499

 

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-03-24/britons-tell-of-frightening-evacuation-from-cruise-ship-off-norways-coast/

 

"Locals tell us they were amazed that we sailed into the teeth of a storm they knew was coming".

 

I think questions are going to be asked as to why they didn't try and avoid the storm.

[MicCanberra]

Interesting, glad no one was killed.

[Heidi13]

On 3/23/2019 at 1:51 PM, MicCanberra said:

Viking is relatively new to ocean cruising, I wonder if it was an old ship or a new build for them.

 

Just checked, MV Viking Sky is a cruise ship which was launched in 2016 and entered service in 2017. She is operated by Viking Ocean Cruises.

Mic - Viking's current fleet of 6 ships are all newbuild sister ships. Oldest ship launched in 2015. 10 more ships being delivered by 2027.

[Heidi13]

The Viking Ocean Board has an extensive thread on the incident. 

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Mic - Viking's current fleet of 6 ships are all newbuild sister ships. Oldest ship launched in 2015. 10 more ships being delivered by 2027.

Cheers.

[john watson]

There is a fairly long video of this on YouTube.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2019 by john watson

[MicCanberra]

Thanks.