Saturday, April 13, 2024

Viking cruise ship evacuation draws investigation by Norway over decision for Viking Sky to sail amid storm warnings

viking sky cruise ship disaster

They recommend Fincantieri review and strengthen the design process to ensure the lube oil sump tanks are in SOLAS compliance and that Lloyd’s Register review and strengthen its plan approval process. The shipowner and operator they recommend take action to ensure compliance with SOLAS and implement systematic and holistic reviews of the oil monitoring system. They also call on IMO and IACS to include technical guidance on the rules as they relate to the oil pressure issue that occurred.

incident

Hospitals in Norway said nine people from the cruise remained hospitalized on Monday, including one in critical condition. He told Norway's VG newspaper that the events surrounding the Viking Sky were "some of the worst I have been involved in, but now it looks like it's going well in the end and that we've been lucky." “Hustadvika is one of the most notorious maritime areas that we have,” Odd Roar Lange, a journalist specialising in tourism, told NRK. The Viking Ocean Cruises chairman, Torstein Hagen, told the Norwegian newspaper VG the events were “some of the worst I have been involved in, but now it looks like it’s going well in the end and that we’ve been lucky”. Rescuers are trying to ensure the ship stays secure and doesn't drift as they try to get the engines working again. "Crew is doing a good job. Evacuation is slow. Seas rough," tweeted David Hernandez, who is a passenger on the ship.

Evacuation of passengers has ended as cruise ship travels to Norway port

The 915 passengers were mainly from the United States and Britain, Reuters reported, though there were also Canadians and Australians on board, among others. The ship anchored in heavy seas to avoid being dashed on the rocks in an area known for shipwrecks. Passengers saw a large wave crashing through glass doors and knocking people across the floor of an area where they had been instructed to gather. The ship left the northern city of Tromsoe carrying almost 1,400 people, despite storm warnings. It was headed for Stavanger in southern Norway when it had engine problems amid a storm on March 23, 2019, and issued a mayday call. He said volunteers are there “for a shoulder to cry on” or for “hand holding” for people from the cruise ship after the evacuations.

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“Troubleshooting was therefore challenging when a total of approximately 1,000 alarms sounded within the first 10 seconds after the blackout,” the report concludes. “When we got the engine running again, we realized we were going to save ourselves," Inge Lockert, a Norwegian pilot on the ship, told the Vesteraalen newspaper. Despite the danger, the crew member said some passengers rushed to be airlifted, fearing the ship would sink before rescue. The German frigate Hessen has departed the Red Sea without replacement, the Bundeswehr reported Sunday.

Passenger waiting 15 hours for rescue says, 'we need off this ship!'

viking sky cruise ship disaster

A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. "The situation was stressful, the control system was complex, and a specific sequence of actions was needed. Insufficient training likely contributed to why the blackout recovery was time consuming," the agency said. "The last few days have been both dramatic and hectic for guests and crew on board Viking Sky," Hagen said in the statement.

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It was visiting the Norwegian towns of Narvik, Alta, Tromsø, Bodø and Stavanger before its scheduled arrival on Tuesday in Tilbury on the River Thames. The area where the ship encountered problems, known as Hustadvika, is notoriously difficult to navigate. The shallow, 10-nautical-mile section of coastline is known for its many small islands and reefs. The cruise liner was only 100 metres away from striking rocks in shallow waters when it finally managed to turn.

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On 23 March 2019 Viking Sky was less than a ship length from running aground during a storm in Hustadvika, Norway. With more than 1,300 persons on board, the cruise ship suffered a blackout due to loss of lubricating oil pressure caused by insufficient lube oil in the engines’ sump tanks. The investigation has shown that the lube oil sump tank design did not comply with SOLAS II-1, Part C, Regulation 26.6 and LR Class Rules Part 5, Chapter 1, Section 3.7 on safe operation under dynamic inclination nor with the recommendations of the engine manufacturer. The sump tank design is critical to safe engine operation, yet the shipyard’s design process did not effectively ensure that the lube oil sump tanks complied with the SOLAS requirement for safe operation under dynamic inclination. The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority recommends that Fincantieri review and strengthen the design process to ensure that lube oil sump tanks are designed and built in compliance with the SOLAS regulation and Class Rules in the future.

Five helicopters had earlier winched 479 people to safety as huge waves tossed the ship around. In total NSIA issued 14 safety recommendations primarily focused on design and certification  modifications of the sump tanks, including those on the Viking Sky’s seven sister ships. NSIA concludes that the vessel came within a ship’s length of running around with 1,374 passengers and crew aboard.

viking sky cruise ship disaster

"We need off this ship!" Ryan Flynn shared on Twitter along with a video of passengers wearing orange life vests. Two tug boats are attempting to pull the ship to shore, but there is no estimated time on how long it'll take, Fjeld says. The ship is moving at a slow pace and the evacuation operation is still going as planned, he says. Twenty people sustained injuries on the vessel, which was being tossed about by wind and waves, Viking Ocean Cruises said. All are being treated at medical facilities in Norway, or have already been discharged.

I’ve never experienced anything so scary,” Janet Jacob, among the first group of passengers evacuated to Molde, told NRK. She said her helicopter ride to safety came amid strong winds “like a tornado”, prompting her to pray for the safety of all aboard. The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said the Viking Sky’s evacuation was a slow and dangerous process, as passengers needed to be hoisted one by one from the cruise ship to the five available helicopters. Norwegian rescue officials said 115 passengers have so far been rescued by helicopter from a stranded Viking cruise ship off the coast of Norway. Passengers have waited for hours to get off the boat as it was taking on water from the rough sea. The agency's investigation "identified operational, technical, and organisational safety issues that in different ways contributed to the blackout" and called for more than a dozen safety recommendations.

Viking Sky suffered an engine failure that left it adrift in rough seas, more than two miles away from the Norwegian coast. After sending out a mayday call, the ship's crew evacuated 479 passengers by helicopter, before regaining power and returning to shore under tow assistance with the remaining passengers and crew. The vessel suffered a complete loss of propulsion for 39 minutes before the crew was able to restore power to move ahead at between 1 to 5 knots. The report identified insufficient lubrication oil in the sump tanks of all working diesel generators as the primary cause. The investigation found that one of the vessel's four diesel generators was "unavailable" when it left port, the agency said, meaning that the cruise ship was not in compliance with safety standards and should have never sailed.

A passenger aboard the Viking Sky cruise ship wrote on Twitter that he has been waiting 15 hours to be evacuated from the stranded vessel. Two American passengers who were airlifted off the Norway cruise ship told CNN affiliate Dagbladet about the frightening scene on board. The Viking Sky, operated by Viking Ocean Cruises, sent out a mayday signal after experiencing engine problems in the Norwegian Sea, according to Reuters. At the time, the ship was carrying nearly 1,400 passengers and crew, many of whom were senior citizens.

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The captain then decided to halt the evacuation, and about 900 people were still on board when the ship limped into the Norwegian port of Molde on its own engines. The Joint Rescue Centre said on Twitter it is working to get more than one of the ship's engines running. In the 1994 sinking of the cruise ferry MS Estonia in a severe Baltic storm—the second deadliest peacetime maritime disaster of the 20th century, after the Titanic—none of the ten lifeboats were deployed. This was determined to be due to “the angle of heel and the lack of coordinated action by the crew.” The ship capsized and sunk, killing 852 of the 989 passengers and crew onboard. The Viking Sky (47,800 gross tons) entered service in 2017 as one of the class of new Fincantieri-built cruise ships for Viking’s ocean cruise line. The two-year-old cruise ship departed Tromso on March 21, 2019, and two days later on the afternoon of March 23 blacked out with 1,374 people aboard losing all propulsion and steering while in a severe Norwegian coastal storm.

The Norwegian Maritime Authority concurs with much of the report highlighting that they also identified the core issue of insufficient oil which caused the drop in pressure in its early investigation shortly after the incident. They however “respectfully disagree” with the contention the vessel did not comply with SOLAS regulations. As a result of the incident, the NMA has issued a general safety notice about the need for continuous oil lubrication to engines and other critical systems during poor weather conditions. Norway news agency NTB reported Sunday afternoon the Viking Sky was traveling under its own power at a speed of 7 knots and not being towed.

Viking ship that came close to disaster 'should never have left port' - Travel Gossip

Viking ship that came close to disaster 'should never have left port'.

Posted: Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Viking Sky would have run aground if propulsion had not been restored at the time it was. “This underlines the importance of not losing propulsion and steering,” the report cautions. All the important details have yet to emerge about what happened on the Viking Sky cruise ship that carried 1,373 passengers and crew, like why the ship was traveling in dangerous weather, and Norway officials have begun investigating.

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