Hundreds airlifted

A cruise liner that ran into trouble in rough seas off Norway was being towed to port yesterday after hundreds of passengers were helicoptered to safety. The Viking Sky lost power and started drifting mid-afternoon Saturday in perilous waters two kilometres (1.2 miles) off More og Romsdal, prompting the captain to send out a distress call. The authorities launched an airlift in very difficult conditions rather than run the risk of leaving people on board.

“We would rather have the passengers on land rather than on board the ship,” police chief Tor Andre Franck said. By yesterday, the crew had managed to restart three of its four engines and two tugs arrived. Authorities said 460 of the 1,373 people on board had been taken off by five helicopters before the airlift was halted to allow the towing to start. Police said 17 people had been taken to hospital, one in their 90s and two 70-year-olds suffered serious fractures.

“The evacuation has been put on pause for now”, a spokesman for southern Norway’s rescue centre said. “The captain will weigh up the situation” before deciding if the airlift resumes, he added. The vessel was heading for the port of Molde, with 60 kilometres (45 miles) still to go, and about 500 kilometres northwest of Oslo, officials said. Dramatic footage of the passengers’ ordeal showed furniture and plants sliding round the lurching vessel as parts of the ceiling came down. Dozens of passengers wearing life jackets were seated around waiting to get off the vessel.

“I have never seen anything so frightening,” said Janet Jacob, who was rescued. “I started to pray. I prayed for the safety of everyone on board,” she told the NRK television channel. “The helicopter trip was terrifying. The winds were like a tornado,” she added. “We were sitting down for breakfast when things started to shake... It was just chaos,” said another passenger, American John Curry, as quoted in Norwegian by media.

Passenger Rodney Horgan said he had been reminded of the Titanic. “The best word, I guess, is surreal,” he said. “Sea water 6-7 feet (about two metres) high just came rushing in, hit the tables, chairs, broken glass and 20-30 people just ... went right in front of me. “I was standing, my wife was sitting in front of me and all of a sudden, she was gone. And I thought this was the end,” Horgan said. But it all ended well for Ryan Flynn. “Here’s my 83-year-old dad being airlifted from the #vikingsky,” he said.