The thought of being out at sea on a ship in trouble is frightening to say the least. Furniture flying around, broken glass, water coming in from the outside – one’s mind quickly jumps to the film Titanic (as well as the real-life sinking of the famous ship) and the terrible fate of its passengers. On Saturday, 23 March, a Norwegian cruise ship called the Viking Sky released a mayday call for help when it got in danger of running aground.
The luxury cruise liner’s engine failed just off the west coast of Norway, in extremely harsh weather conditions. The ship was also at a high risk of running aground. The sea was dangerously rough, and so evacuating passengers via lifeboats was impossible. A rescue team of helicopters was deployed to evacuate the 1,300 people on board.
Here is a look at how the events unfurled on the vessel, with some tweets from passengers themselves:
Of the 1,300 people on board, an estimated 890 passengers and crew couldn’t be evacuated by helicopter. On Sunday, 24 March, after approximately six hours of travelling at sea, two tug boats managed to attach themselves to the vessel and assisted in guiding the Viking Sky safely to dock in Molde, a town in western Norway.
Among the passengers evacuated were former South African cricket captain Graeme Smith’s parents.
Image source: Twitter @sotiridi
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