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Cruise ship breaks down off Norway, rescue op underway 1,300+ people in distress as crippled cruise liner is battered by huge waves off Norway (VIDEOS)
(1 day later)
The cruise ship Viking Sky, which lost engine power and drifted towards land off Norway earlier on Saturday managed to start one of its engines and is now anchored 2km off the shore, Norwegian police say. While initial reports indicated the ship had 1,300 passengers aboard, the ship operator’s website lists its capacity at 930, thus the figure appears to include the vessel’s crew. Several helicopters and sea vessels have been dispatched to the location to evacuate people from the stalled ship. The passengers were hoisted up one by one from the deck and airlifted to land, according to the rescue service, which said “it will take a long time” to evacuate everyone, if the need arises. About 100 people were evacuated by 15:30 GMT, according to police. At least 10 people have been injured during an ongoing, high-risk evacuation of the Viking Sky cruise liner, which had engine problems and was forced to anchor in Norway's Hustadvika Bay with 1,300+ passengers and crew on board.
After suffering an engine failure, the Viking Sky sent out a mayday call on Saturday afternoon, requesting emergency assistance as it began to drift towards the rocky western coast of Norway. In full emergency mode on the high seas, the crew managed to restart one of the vessel’s four engines before anchoring in the Hustadsvika Bay to allow helicopters and vessels to move in to help evacuate some of the 1,373 passengers and crew.
As high waves tossed the ship from side to side, first responders were airlifting passengers one by one. Video of the emergency, released by the authorities, showed the rescuers trying to reach the vessel under extremely difficult weather conditions.
Only some 166 people had been rescued by Saturday evening, most of them British and American. The operation to evacuate the rest of those in distress is expected to continue overnight, authorities said, noting that at least 10 people have been injured in the accident aboard the vessel, which was only commissioned in 2017 for the Viking Ocean Cruises.
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