A cruise ship stranded off Norway’s western coast airlifted more than half its 900 passengers to safety before authorities opted Sunday to allow the ship…
A cruise ship stranded off Norway’s western coast airlifted more than half its 900 passengers to safety before authorities opted Sunday to allow the ship to limp into a nearby port with the aid of a tow boat.
The effort was continuing later Sunday. Viking Sky issued a mayday call Saturday after engine troubles and a harrowing encounter with rough waters and high winds off Norway’s western coast.
Carolyn Savikas, from Pennsylvania, described the terror to Norway’s VG newspaper, saying she heard a «terrible crash» and the ship rocked. Water raced in and things around her were smashed.
«We were in the restaurant when a really huge wave came and shattered a door and flooded the entire restaurant,» she said. «All I saw were bones, arms, water and tables. It was like the Titanic – just like the pictures you have seen from the Titanic.»
Authorities said the weather and sea conditions prevented rescue workers from using lifeboats or other vessels to evacuate the ship.
