Minggu, 24 Maret 2019

Cruise ship stranded off Norway’s coast reaches port after harrowing helicopter rescues - Fox News

A cruise ship reached the Norwegian port of Molde on Sunday a day after the crew issued a mayday call that led to hundreds of passengers being airlifted to safety.

The Viking Sky limped into the port on Sunday accompanied by tug boats after the harrowing ordeal that sent furniture in the vessel smashing into walls, glass flying, pieces of the ceiling crashing down as passengers and crewmembers held on while the ship rocked side to side.

The ship was carrying 1,373 passengers and crew members when it had engine trouble in an unpredictable area of Norway’s western coast known for rough, frigid waters. The crew issued a mayday call Saturday afternoon.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN PASSENGER SUING FOR $10 MILLION AFTER BREAKING PELVIS DURING 20-FOOT TRAMPOLINE FALL

Rescuers couldn’t use lifeboats or other vessels to evacuate the passengers due to the conditions that included wind gusts at 43 mph and waves reaching over 26 feet high. Five helicopters were deployed and worked through the night to take passengers from the vessel to land. Helicopters were stopped removing passengers by Sunday morning when the ship was ready to sail to the shore.

Passengers on board the Viking Sky, were waiting to be evacuated after the vessel encountered bad conditions off the coast of Norway on Saturday. (AP)

Viking Ocean Cruises, the company that owns and operates the ship, said 479 passengers were airlifted to land, leaving 436 passengers and 458 crew members onboard by the time the ship made its journey to the port.

"We understand 20 people suffered injuries as a result of this incident, and they are all receiving care at the relevant medical centers in Norway, with some already having been discharged," the company said.

Passengers said they suffered cuts on their hands and faces from flying glass. Rodney Horgen, a Minnesota native who was on the cruise, recalled to The Associated Press how his wife was “thrown across the room.”

Passengers are helped from a rescue helicopter in Fraena, Norway, Sunday. (AP)

"When the windows and door flew open and the 2 meters of water swept people and tables 20 to 30 feet, that was the breaker. I said to myself, 'This is it,'" Horgen said. "I grabbed my wife but I couldn't hold on. And she was thrown across the room. And then she got thrown back again by the wave coming back.

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE TO PAY $2 MILLION TO PASSENGER WHO SUFFERED HEART ATTACK

"I did not have a lot of hope. I knew how cold that water was and where we were and the waves and everything. You would not last very long. That was very, very frightening,” he added.

Carolyn Savikas, from Pennsylvania, recalled a “really huge wave” crashing into the cruise ship’s restaurant and shattering a door.

"We were in the restaurant when a really huge wave came and shattered a door and flooded the entire restaurant," Savikas told Norwegian publication VG newspaper. "All I saw were bones, arms, water and tables. It was like the Titanic – just like the pictures you have seen from the Titanic."

The cruise ship Viking Sky arrives at port off Molde, Norway on Sunday. (AP)

Viking Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen praised Norwegian authorities and the ship’s crew for the rescue operation.

"I'm very proud of our crew," Hagen told VG.

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The ship was visiting the Norwegian towns and cities of Narvik, Alta, Tromso, Bodo and Stavanger before its scheduled arrival Tuesday in the British port of Tilbury on the River Thames. The passengers mostly were a mix of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian citizens.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-03-24 17:59:57Z
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Viking Cruise Ship Reaches Port Safely After Mayday Signal And Daring Rescues At Sea - NPR

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The cruise ship Viking Sky reaches the port of Molde under its own steam on Sunday. SVEIN OVE EKORNESVAAG/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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SVEIN OVE EKORNESVAAG/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 2:12 p.m. ET

A luxury cruise ship has safely arrived at port in Norway after a harrowing ordeal that started when the ship's engines failed during a storm off the country's western coast on Saturday.

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.

The engine trouble occurred in a stretch of waters known for rough, frigid waters called Hustadvika, which as Reuters reported, is known "shallow waters dotted with reefs." To make matters worse, the engine struggle came during a storm with strong winds gusting at a speed of roughly 79 feet per second, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

"It was very nearly a disaster. The ship drifted to within 100 meters of running aground before they were able to restart one of the engines," Hans Vik, who heads the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told TV2.

Dramatic rescues were underway on Saturday as passengers on the ship were airlifted on a wire one-by-one onto helicopters that hovered above while the ship tossed in the waves.

Rescue services evacuated a total of 479 people, Reuters reported, and by the time the ship arrived in the port of Molde on Norway's west coast, about 900 people were still on board. Officials for Viking Ocean Cruises told the Associated Press that 20 people suffered injuries.

Passengers on the ship described a scene of chaos as they waited to reach safety.

In a message to the Associated Press, passenger Alexus Sheppard wrote, "It was frightening at first. And when the general alarm sounded it became VERY real."

Sheppard shared video on social media that showed the ship's floor rolling back and forth on an unsteady plane, followed by the crashing of furniture that clattered across the floor and sometimes slammed into passengers. Panels fell from the ceilings on top of passengers who were trying desperately to avoid harm.

Still waiting for evacuation. #VikingSky #Mayday pic.twitter.com/6EvcAjf5D2
— Alexus Sheppard 🏳️‍🌈 (@alexus309) March 23, 2019

"The last 24 hours have been very, very scary, very frightening," an American passenger, Rodney Horgen, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. "The best word I suppose is surreal."

He described his reaction to the Associated Press after a huge wave crashed through glass doors and swept his wife, Judie Lemieux, 30 feet across the floor.

"When the windows and door flew open and the 2 meters of water swept people and tables 20 to 30 feet, that was the breaker. I said to myself, 'This is it.' I grabbed my wife but I couldn't hold on. And she was thrown across the room. And then she got thrown back again by the wave coming back."

Other videos showed passengers strapped into orange safety vests as water rose beneath their feet. The wait to get back safely on land stretched for hours.

#vikingsky emergency pic.twitter.com/9bxdRpB2zV
— David Hernandez (@oxman78) March 23, 2019

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 bad weather subsided on Sunday, allowing the ship to reach safety. 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.

#vikingsky safely at port in Molde pic.twitter.com/zbEW0pQHcU
— Sigurd Mjelve (@Sigmje) March 24, 2019

There were cheers in the port when the Viking Sky arrived, honking its horn triumphantly.

Viking Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen praised the rescue operation by Norwegian authorities and the actions of the vessel's crew.

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."

Hagen also said that the company will make sure all the passengers get home safely and will be rebooking flights for them.

Incidents like this are fairly rare. A 2017 report from the New Zealand government found that globally, roughly two cruise ships a year run aground and that between 1980 and 2012, about 16 cruise ships sank.

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2019-03-24 17:56:00Z
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Cruise Ship Stranded Off Norway Reaches Shore After Harrowing Rescue Effort - The New York Times

Cruise Ship Stranded Off Norway Reaches Shore After Harrowing Rescue Effort

Image

Passengers on the Viking Sky waited to be evacuated on Saturday.CreditCreditMichal Stewart, via Associated Press

By Iliana Magra

March 24, 2019

LONDON — A cruise ship that set out with more than 1,300 people aboard finally reached the Norwegian shore on Sunday after having been stranded at sea for nearly 24 hours with engine trouble.

More than 890 people — 436 passengers and 458 crew members — were left on the 47,800-ton ship, the Viking Sky, as it struggled back to Molde, a coastal town in western Norway, after some of the engines were restarted. On Sunday at about 4:30 p.m. local time, after some six hours of traveling at sea with one tugboat in front and another in the rear, the vessel docked.

In footage shared on Twitter, cheers and whoops could be heard from onshore.

“It has reached Molde; everything has gone according to plan,” Einar Knudsen, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center for Southern Norway, which led the rescue operation, said by phone on Sunday.

Before the ship managed to limp back to port, rescuers had undertaken a harrowing operation in rough weather to evacuate hundreds of people by helicopter.

Some of the airlifted passengers arrived onshore bruised and battered, the Red Cross said. Passengers told NBC News that many had been hurt by falling objects and shattered glass as waves rocked the ship.

“Nothing similar has happened before, not in this magnitude,” Mr. Knudsen said.

The passengers, many of them older adults, came from countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

The ship, which left Bergen, Norway, on March 14, had been scheduled to arrive in Tilbury, on the River Thames in southeastern England, on Tuesday. But when the vessel was traveling between two Norwegian ports, Tromso and Stavanger, it sent a mayday alert on Saturday afternoon that several engines had failed.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the ship to lose power. But it did so along a particularly dangerous part of the Norwegian coastline called Hustadvika, according to Eirik Walle, a coordinator for the southern rescue center.

Five helicopters and several other vessels were involved in the rescue effort. (According to local reports, two helicopters also helped a cargo ship on Saturday, the Hagland Captain, which was in Norwegian waters when it sent an SOS message saying it, too, had “engine problems.” The crew members were evacuated.)

Rough weather — high winds and 26-foot waves — hampered the effort to evacuate the passengers of the Viking Sky, which began around 2 p.m. local time on Saturday.

“Currently, we understand 20 people suffered injuries as a result of this incident,” a spokesman for Viking Cruises, which operates the ship, said by email. He added that they were all receiving medical care in Norway and that some had already been discharged.

The Red Cross said in a statement on Sunday that several of the rescued passengers had suffered cuts or broken bones. “Many are also traumatized by what they have experienced, and need to be taken care of when they land,” the organization said.

Video footage shared by the cruise ship passengers on social media showed a terrifying ordeal as the ship swayed, with people, plants and furniture sent sliding across the floor. Other footage depicted hundreds strapped in fluorescent life jackets as water rushed past their feet inside the ship.

“The ship is rocking and rolling but at anchor,” Alexus Sheppard, a passenger, told The New York Times on Saturday. “Everyone is calm, except when we get rolled by a big wave,” she said.

Others commended the ship’s crew members, who gave water to the passengers and made them sandwiches.

One couple, Allen and Susan Dollberg of Novato, Calif., spoke on Sunday to NRK, the Norwegian government-owned broadcaster, about their experience.

“At first we took it lightly,” Mr. Dollberg said. “We thought we would be able to to make it through that water.” But he added, “Then suddenly the alarms went off that we needed to evacuate ship.”

Ms. Dollberg said, “We looked at each other and said, ‘This is really happening.’ ”

“Everything was breaking, furniture, glassware,” she said. “The closet doors were banging back and forth.” She added, “When we got the signal to evacuate, there was no time to think about getting important things like passports.”

The Norwegian cargo vessel the Hagland Captain on Sunday. It, too, had engine trouble off the west coast of Norway the day before, and its crew was rescued by helicopter, according to local reports.CreditSvein Ove Ekornesvag/EPA, via Shutterstock

The couple said they still had friends aboard the ship, saying it had been “a rough night for them.” But Ms. Dollberg praised the rescue operation: “The crew, the Norwegian people and the rescue operation have been stellar.”

On Sunday, the operation seemed under control despite the challenging weather, including strong currents, heavy winds, and high waves.

Mr. Knudsen said earlier in the day that the ship had been turned from a westward to an eastward position with the help of two tugs and that three of its four engines had been restarted.

The cause of the ship’s engine failure was unknown, Torstein Hagen, the Norwegian founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, which has its headquarters in Switzerland, told local news outlets on Sunday.

He said that the passengers would be compensated. “They will get their money back,” he said, adding, “They will also have a letter from me, and be invited back again.”

Mr. Hagen told the newspaper VG Sunday: “What happened today is among the worst I have ever experienced. But as it seems that all will end well, I’ve got to say we have been lucky.”

In a statement on Sunday, Viking Cruises said, “The 479 passengers who were airlifted from the vessel are currently on shore and arrangements have been made to fly them home, with the first passengers leaving today.”

It also said that the company’s next sailing, which had been scheduled to embark on March 27, had been canceled. “Guests and their travel agents have been contacted directly. We do not anticipate any additional cancellations at this time,” the statement said.

The Viking Sky will remain at the port in Molde for a public investigation into what happened, Mr. Knudsen, the spokesman for the rescue operation, said.

The cruise ship industry has suffered a number of disasters in the past decade, including the sinking of the Costa Concordia in 2012 and the deadly fire of the Norman Atlantic in 2014, as well as setbacks such as outbreaks of illness and onboard drug raids.

Follow Iliana Magra on Twitter: @Magraki.

Henrik Pryser Libell contributed reporting from Oslo.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/24/world/europe/norway-ship-viking-sky.html

2019-03-24 16:29:46Z
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As crucial Brexit votes loom, Theresa May backed by ministers amid coup reports - Fox News

As a series of Brexit votes loom following a weekend that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets of London demanding a second referendum, British Prime Minister Theresa May received the backing of several ministers who dismissed reports of a "coup" against the embattled leader.

Chancellor Philip Hammond called any talk of a leadership change "self-indulgent" and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the PM "is in charge," according to BBC News, while David Lidington, who has been touted as a replacement for May, said, "I am 100 percent behind the prime minister."

Still, British newspapers are reporting that behind the scenes, several cabinet members are plotting a coup against May and making plans to replace her with a caretaker leader until a proper election can take place later this year. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg tweeted that there was "serious maneuvering" going on.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS PROTEST IN LONDON TO DEMAND A SECOND BREXIT VOTE

Britain had been set to leave the European Union on March 29 without a deal after May's negotiated agreement was voted down by lawmakers. That vote last week was May's second Brexit defeat in parliament. However, May received a lifeline last week when EU leaders agreed to a short-term Brexit extension.

Throngs of protesters filled the streets of London on Saturday demanding a second referendum. The original Brexit vote, which critics have since said was influenced by Russia-backed disinformation and outright lies about what leaving the EU would mean, passed by 1.3 million votes.

A puppet character depicting British Prime Minister Theresa May is brandished among Anti-Brexit campaigners, during the People's Vote March in London, Saturday March 23, 2019. Protesters are gathering in central London before what is widely predicted to be a massive march in favour of a second Brexit referendum. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

In the coming days, a range of different scenarios could play out, depending on how British lawmakers vote. They include, according to BBC News: Revoking Article 50 and canceling Brexit altogether, setting up a second referendum, May's deal plus a customs union, May's deal plus a customs union and single-market access, a Canada-style free trade deal, or leaving the EU without a deal.

POPE FRANCIS PRAYS FOR PEACEFUL END TO NICARAGUA CRISIS

Hammond told BBC News that he would remove revoking Article 50 and a no-deal Brexit from the list, saying "both of those would have very serious and negative consequences for our country."

In terms of a second referendum, Hammond said: "It is a coherent proposition and deserves to be considered, along with the other proposals."

Although this coming Friday is the day that Britain was set to leave the EU, the earliest that could now happen is April 12.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/as-crucial-brexit-votes-loom-theresa-may-urged-to-quit-to-help-deal-pass

2019-03-24 15:06:10Z
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Cruise Ship Stranded Off Norway Reaches Shore After Harrowing Rescue Effort - The New York Times

Cruise Ship Stranded Off Norway Reaches Shore After Harrowing Rescue Effort

Image

Passengers on the Viking Sky waited to be evacuated on Saturday.CreditCreditMichal Stewart, via Associated Press

By Iliana Magra

March 24, 2019

LONDON — A cruise ship that set out with more than 1,300 people finally reached the Norwegian shore on Sunday after becoming stranded at sea for nearly 24 hours with engine trouble and rescuers began a harrowing operation in rough weather to evacuate hundreds of people one by one by helicopter.

More than 890 people — 436 passengers and 458 crew members — were left on the 47,800-ton ship, the Viking Sky, as it headed to Molde, a coastal town in western Norway. On Sunday about 4:30 p.m. local time, after about six hours of traveling at sea with one tugboat in front and another in the rear, the vessel docked.

In footage shared on Twitter, cheers and whoops could be heard from onshore.

Earlier, some passengers, who were airlifted from the ship’s deck, had arrived onshore bruised and battered, the Red Cross said. Passengers told NBC News that many had been hurt by falling objects and shattered glass as waves rocked the ship.

“Nothing similar has happened before, not in this magnitude,” Mr. Knudsen said.

The ship had been scheduled to arrive on Tuesday in Britain’s Tilbury Port on the River Thames. Many older passengers were onboard, including people from the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. But when the vessel was traveling between two Norwegian ports, Tromso and Stavanger, it sent a mayday alert on Saturday afternoon that several engines had failed.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the cruise ship to lose power. But it did so along a particularly dangerous part of the Norwegian coastline called Hustadvika, according to Eirik Walle, a coordinator for the southern rescue center.

Rough weather — high winds and 26-foot waves — hampered the effort to evacuate the passengers of the Viking Sky, which began around 2 p.m. local time on Saturday. At least three passengers had sustained serious injuries.

The Red Cross said on Sunday that several of the rescued passengers had suffered cuts or broken bones. “Many are also traumatized by what they have experienced, and need to be taken care of when they land,” the statement said.

Video footage shared by the cruise ship passengers on social media showed a terrifying ordeal as the ship swayed and furniture, plants and people were sent sliding across the floor. Other footage depicted hundreds of people strapped in fluorescent life jackets as water rushed passed their feet inside the ship.

“The ship is rocking and rolling but at anchor,” Alexus Sheppard, a passenger, told The New York Times on Saturday after having waited to be evacuated for six hours. “Everyone is calm, except when we get rolled by a big wave,” she said.

Others commended the ship’s crew members, who gave water to the passengers and made them sandwiches.

One couple, Allen and Susan Dollberg of Novato, Calif., spoke on Sunday to NRK, the Norwegian government-owned broadcaster, about their experience.

Ms. Dollberg said, “We looked at each other and said, ‘This is really happening.’ ”

On Sunday, the operation seemed under control despite the challenging weather, including strong currents, heavy winds, and high waves.

“The ship has been turned from a westward to an eastward position with the help of two tugs,” Mr. Knudsen said. “It’s moving at a speed of 8 knots,” he added, with three of its four engines now working.

He also said that the passengers would be compensated. “They will get their money back,” he said, adding, “They will also have a letter from me, and be invited back again.”

Mr. Hagen told the newspaper VG Sunday: “What happened today is among the worst I ever experienced. But as it seems to all end well, I’ve got to say we have been lucky. We keep doing the best we can.”

The ship will remain at the port in Molde for a public investigation into what happened, Mr. Knudsen, the spokesman for the rescue operation, said.

Follow Iliana Magra on Twitter: @Magraki.

Henrik Pryser Libell contributed reporting from Oslo.

Related Coverage

Cruise Ship Near Norway With Nearly 1,400 Passengers Is Being Evacuated

March 23, 2019

Image

Florida: Cruise Line Says It Will Pay for Rescue

April 15, 2013

Captain of Stricken Vessel Says He Fell Overboard in Passenger Panic

Jan. 18, 2012

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/24/world/europe/norway-ship-viking-sky.html

2019-03-24 15:45:00Z
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As crucial Brexit votes loom, Theresa May backed by ministers amid coup reports - Fox News

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS PROTEST IN LONDON TO DEMAND A SECOND BREXIT VOTE

POPE FRANCIS PRAYS FOR PEACEFUL END TO NICARAGUA CRISIS

Hammond told BBC News that he would remove revoking Article 50 and a no-deal Brexit from the list, saying "both of those would have very serious and negative consequences for our country."

In terms of a second referendum, Hammond said: "It is a coherent proposition and deserves to be considered, along with the other proposals."

Although this coming Friday is the day that Britain was set to leave the EU, the earliest that could now happen is April 12.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/as-crucial-brexit-votes-loom-theresa-may-urged-to-quit-to-help-deal-pass

2019-03-24 14:55:22Z
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As crucial Brexit votes loom, Theresa May backed by ministers amid coup reports - Fox News

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS PROTEST IN LONDON TO DEMAND A SECOND BREXIT VOTE

POPE FRANCIS PRAYS FOR PEACEFUL END TO NICARAGUA CRISIS

Hammond told BBC News that he would remove revoking Article 50 and a no-deal Brexit from the list, saying "both of those would have very serious and negative consequences for our country."

In terms of a second referendum, Hammond said: "It is a coherent proposition and deserves to be considered, along with the other proposals."

Although this coming Friday is the day that Britain was set to leave the EU, the earliest that could now happen is April 12.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/as-crucial-brexit-votes-loom-theresa-may-urged-to-quit-to-help-deal-pass

2019-03-24 14:19:29Z
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