Nightmare on board a cruise: failure to evacuate 1300 passengers

Relief services have suspended spectacular helicopter evacuation operations which, according to the latest figures, have brought 460 of the 1,373 people aboard the ship on the mainland. Seventeen of them were hospitalized.

The "Viking Sky" made a call for help on Saturday afternoon when an engine broke down. In the middle of a storm, the cruise ship headed aimlessly towards the coastal waters where reefs are found, in the region of Møre og Romsdal (western Norway).

After successfully restarting its engines, the cruise stabilized by launching the anchor about two kilometers from the coast and the authorities launched a large evacuation operation with six simultaneous helicopters.

The images inside the "Viking Sky" show the strong jolt that made things fall off the roof as the pbadengers tried to stay calm.

In other videos, you see dozens of pbadengers waiting for their evacuation with their lifejackets. "They are now evacuating my father, 83 years old, by helicopter," Ryan Flynn wrote on Twitter, accompanied by footage of a helicopter flying.

After successfully launching three of its four engines, two tugs approached and are now taking the ship to the port of Molde, about 80 km away.

"The ship is moving with its own engines, with tugs at the front and back," said relief services coordinator, Jan Morten Dale, at a press conference .

"It shows that things are relatively under control on board," he added.

The rescue operations have been complicated by the bad weather and the advanced age of many pbadengers, who according to the police are mostly American or British.

"It seems that the ship should reach Molde with the other pbadengers on board, there is no more evacuation," said Fraena Mayor Jan Arve Dyrnes.

The "Viking Sky" is expected to arrive at his harbor of refuge at 15:00 (13:00 GMT), he said.