1300 People Airlifted from Cruise Ship

[Chance]

From BBC News:

About 1,300 people are being evacuated from a cruise ship off the western coast of Norway, authorities have said.

Police in the county of More og Romsdal say the ship has suffered engine problems, and all those aboard are being taken to shore.

Norway's sea rescue agency said the MV Viking Sky sent out a distress signal amid high waves and strong winds.

Five helicopters and several ships are taking part in the evacuation, the agency said.

....

Reports suggest the ship has since managed to restart one engine and move slightly further from the coast as the evacuation continues.

Fisherman Jan Erik Fiskerstrand, whose boat was one of the first to come to help MV Viking Sky, told Aftenposten newspaper, "it was just minutes before this could have gone really wrong".

The ship could have hit the rocks "if they had not started the engine and fastened the anchor".

Until 20:00, 139 people had been brought to shore.

But police warned the figures will vary, and said they would "wait for counting until further notice".

Each helicopter can carry between 15 and 20 people.

Best wishes to the helicopter crews. Sounds like they're in for a long shift.

[Lester Polfus]

Wow.

Trying to decide if this is worse or better than the Prinsendam rescue, which I had occasion to study at length. On the one hand, it's way more people, on the other it's much closer to land.

[txdpd]

I’m getting sea sick just looking at a clip of the footage.

[Chance]

From BBC News:

A cruise ship that got into trouble off the Norwegian coast is heading to port after the dramatic rescue of hundreds of its passengers.

The Viking Sky lost power on Saturday and sent out a distress signal after it began drifting towards land.

Rescuers airlifted almost 500 of the 1,373 mostly elderly passengers from the ship in bad weather.

The vessel's engines have been restarted and it is heading towards the port of Molde.

Evacuations have been halted for now but rescuers said they could resume if the captain deems it necessary.

[Alpha Sierra]

Getting an ocean salvage tug on scene and having both ships rigged for towing should be priority #1.

That'd be a hell of a lot more effective and efficient that winching 1000+ people in helos considering safety of life, environmental damage, and economic losses.

Not as sexy and sensational though.

[GardoneVT]

The thread title is misleading- the 1,300 people haven’t been airlifted yet, and with only 5 helicopters available they won’t be for some time.

[Chance]

BBC is reporting the cruise ship is safely back in port. Cruise operator said 436 guests and 458 crew remained on board. About 20 people injured, but it doesn't sound like the injuries were severe.

Yay for happy endings.