Norway airlifting 1,300 passengers off cruise ship

Emergency services said yesterday they had begun airlifting 1,300 passengers off a cruise ship in trouble off the Norwegian coast. The Viking Sky cruise ship sent an SOS message due to “engine problems in bad weather”, southern Norway’s rescue centre said on Twitter, while police reported that the passengers would be evacuated by helicopter.

“The boat only has one working engine and the winds are rather strong. Therefore we would prefer to have the passengers on land rather than on board the ship,” police chief Tor Andre Franck said. By 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) 100 people had been evacuated, with four helicopters involved in the airlift.

“It will take time to evacuate everyone,” Franck said. The incident occurred mid-afternoon off the More og Romsdal area of western Norway.