1300 people from a cruise ship evacuated

off the West coast of Norway is run on Saturday, a spectacular rescue action to get rid of around 1300 people aboard the cruise ship "Viking Sky" from distress. The steamer dropped due to "engine problems in bad weather," an SOS-emergency call, such as the rescue centre in the South of Norway, announced in the online service Twitter. The rescue forces were using helicopters in use, in order to bring the roughly 1300 passengers and crew in safety.

The "Viking Sky" have only one functioning engine, and the Wind was "quite strong", said the head of Tor Andre Franck the AFP news Agency. According to police sources all the passengers to be brought ashore.

Against 16.30 o'clock had already been brought about a hundred people by helicopter from the ship. According to rescuers, five helicopters were deployed, each of which can carry 15 to 20 people.

Dangerous reefs under water

television pictures showed the giant white ship in the troubled sea, while the helicopter circled in the air. "This is going to take until all are evacuated," said Franck. Also ships of the coast guard and rescue boats were on the way. A tug that started in the late afternoon for the "Viking Sky", it should try to pull the cruise ship in a port.

The incident occurred about two kilometers off the coast of West Norway. In the coastal section of Hustadvika in the Romsdal, there were already several Maritime accidents. A motor is damage there for a ship to be "dangerous", because there are water many reefs, said Franck. The "Viking Sky" was on the way from tromsø in Northern Norway to Stavanger in the South.

so Far, the ship was "stable," said a spokeswoman for the rescue forces. "It threw out the anchor, and one of the engines is operating." According to rescuers, there is only one slightly injured. So far, the rescue operation had been carried out well, said another spokesman for the North wegischen broadcaster NRK. mid/ju (ij/AFP)

Created: 23.03.2019, 21:04 Uhr