OSLO: A luxury cruise ship that had set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard arrived at a port in Norway on Sunday after narrowly escaping disaster when its engines failed during a storm.
“They’ve had a bit of a shocking experience,” Hagen told TV2 and other media after meeting passengers who had been winched from the deck in the storm.
“Most of our passengers are senior citizens…imagine what it’s like to hang there on that wire. It must be a terrible experience but they seem to have handled it very well,” Hagen said.
The 915 passengers were mainly from the United States and Britain, the rescue services said. There were also Canadians and Australians on board, among others, the cruise company said.
Some 20 injured passengers had been taken to hospital, Viking Cruises said, while others had only minor injuries.
One was taken to St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim and others were taken to local hospitals.
“Many have also been traumatized by the experience and need care when they arrive on shore,” the Norwegian Red Cross said.
BROKEN WINDOWS
Stormy weather conditions had improved by Sunday afternoon, with winds down to 12 meters per second from 24 meters per second, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said.
Images and video posted by passengers on social media showed furniture sliding around and panels falling from the ceiling as the vessel drifted in waves of up to eight meters (26 feet), and passengers earlier described the ordeal.
“We were having lunch when it began to shake. Window panes were broken and water came in. It was just chaos. The trip on the helicopter, I would rather forget. It was not fun,” American passenger John Curry told public broadcaster NRK on Saturday.
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