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Eugene

(62,756 posts)
Sat Mar 23, 2019, 12:19 PM Mar 2019

Passengers airlifted from cruise ship stranded off Norway

Last edited Sat Mar 23, 2019, 04:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS MARCH 23, 2019 / 10:31 AM / UPDATED 24 MINUTES AGO

Passengers airlifted from cruise ship stranded off Norway

Terje Solsvik, Gwladys Fouche
2 MIN READ

OSLO (Reuters) - Rescue helicopters were evacuating people from a cruise ship which suffered engine failure on Saturday in stormy weather off the west coast of Norway, police and rescue workers said.

The maritime rescue service said the Viking Sky, with about 1,300 passengers and crew on board, had sent out a mayday signal as it had been drifting towards land.

The crew were later able to restart one engine and the ship was at anchor about 2 km from land.

Passengers were hoisted one-by-one from the deck of the vessel and airlifted to a village just north of the town of Molde on Norway’s west coast. About 100 people had been evacuated by 1530 GMT, police said.

“If we need to evacuate everyone, it will take a long time,” rescue service spokesman Einar Knudsen told Reuters.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-ship/passengers-airlifted-from-cruise-ship-stranded-off-norway-idUSKCN1R40J7

______________________________________________________________________

Update from the Associated Press:

The Latest: 2nd ship needs rescue off Norway's western coast

an hour ago

-snip-

9:40 p.m.

Norwegian rescue authorities say a freighter has experienced an engine seizure in the same stormy Hustadsvika Bay region off western Norway where hundreds of people are being winched off by helicopter from the ailing Viking Sky cruise ship.

Authorities say they have had to divert two of the five helicopters rescuing 1,300 passengers and crew from the cruise ship to help the Hagland Captain cargo vessel’s crew of nine in the storm.

-snip-


Read more: https://apnews.com/0c8f0107f09b4caf865f63c52a508a6f
4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Passengers airlifted from cruise ship stranded off Norway (Original Post) Eugene Mar 2019 OP
Quite an excursion in the Viking Sky! elleng Mar 2019 #1
Ugh! Just saw video of the airlifting operation. redwitch Mar 2019 #2
Hopefully Sherman A1 Mar 2019 #3
That would speed things up considerably. redwitch Mar 2019 #4

redwitch

(15,084 posts)
2. Ugh! Just saw video of the airlifting operation.
Sat Mar 23, 2019, 12:58 PM
Mar 2019

The sea looks really rough. And it is going to take hours, days even to get all 1300 people to safety.

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
3. Hopefully
Sat Mar 23, 2019, 01:24 PM
Mar 2019

they can get a tug or two out to the vessel before it is necessary to airlift everyone off the ship.

redwitch

(15,084 posts)
4. That would speed things up considerably.
Sat Mar 23, 2019, 02:14 PM
Mar 2019

Poor people! I would not be happy about an air rescue!

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