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

All passengers and crew aboard the Viking Sky cruise ship are safe in the port of Molde, in western Norway, and passengers will soon begin flying home, Viking Ocean Cruises said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

With the safe arrival of the vessel in port, our live coverage has ended. For all of the harrowing details from passengers who were stranded at sea, read our story.

The Viking Sky cruise ship has docked at a quay in Molde harbor, western Norway, after a harrowing day stranded at sea.

Passengers onboard the vessel shouted, “We made it,” as the ship arrived on Sunday afternoon, Norwegian state broadcaster NRK reported.

The Viking Sky cruise ship is expected to dock at 4:30 p.m. local time in Molde, a port town in western Norway, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Southern Norway said on Twitter. Local people have been asked to stay away from the center of town as emergency services prepare for the vessel’s arrival.

The US Embassy in Oslo has sent a consular team to Molde, a coastal city in western Norway, to assist American citizens being evacuated from the Viking Sky cruise ship.

The embassy said it was in contact with Norwegian authorities leading the rescue effort.

“The safety and security of U.S. citizens is of the utmost importance, and we will provide more information as it becomes available,” the embassy said in a statement.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg thanked rescue workers and volunteers who had helped respond to what she called a “dramatic day” for passengers aboard the Viking Sky cruise ship.

“It has been a dramatic day for the passengers and rescue personnel on #VikingSky in #Hustadvika. Thank you to the talented rescuers, volunteers and others who have made an invaluable effort in demanding conditions,” Soldberg said on Twitter.

The evacuation of passengers from a cruise ship off the western coast of Norway has come to an end as the vessel safely makes its way to Molde harbor, Viking Ocean Cruises said in a statement.

Rescue teams airlifted 479 people from the vessel after it was stranded in stormy seas Saturday with 1,300 passengers and crew on board.

The Viking Sky cruise ship, which regained engine power on Sunday morning, is traveling to Molde accompanied by two supply ships and one tug assist vessel. There are 436 guests and 458 crew still remaining on the ship.

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.

“Throughout all of this, our first priority was for the safety and well-being of our passengers and our crew,” Viking Ocean Cruises said in a statement, thanking Norwegian emergency services and local residents for their support.

The next sailing, which was scheduled to embark on March 27, has been canceled.

The Norwegian Red Cross, which was treating passengers from the stricken cruise ship at an evacuation center in Hustadvika, on Norway’s western coast, said that they were seeing injuries including bruising, broken bones and cuts.

Rescuers have evacuated 418 people by helicopter from the Viking Sky cruise ship, a day after the vessel was stranded in rough seas off Norway with 1,300 passengers and crew on board.

“There are at least two or three helicopters still rescuing people from the cruise ship but there is only one helicopter in operation at one given time because of the weather,” a spokesperson from Norwegian rescue services (HRS Southern Norway) told CNN.

“They work in rotations because it is not possible to hoist people from two helicopters working at one time.”

Passengers aboard the stricken ship say the vessel is being tossed about by wind and waves as they continue to await rescue.

Three of the ship’s four engines are now working, and tug boats are trying to move the ship to shore.

Two American passengers who were airlifted off the Norway cruise ship told CNN affiliate Dagbladet about the frightening scene on board.

“Furniture would slide across the room, slide back and with it came people and glass. It was a very dangerous situation frankly,” Jan Terbruegen said.

Speaking at the Scandic Hotel Alexandra, where many of the evacuated passengers are staying, Terbruegen described seeing the ship drifting toward rocks before being evacuated.

“We could see that we were getting blown in toward some rocks. That was the most frightening thing I think. But luckily that wasn’t our destiny,” Terbruegen said.

Beth Clark, another American passenger, said she was hoisted 100 feet in the air onto a Coast Guard helicopter from the ship. She praised the Norwegian Coast Guard, Viking Sky crew and others for help with the evacuation efforts.

The stranded Norway cruise ship has restarted with three of four engines now working, Joint Rescue Centre for Southern Norway spokesman Per Fjeld tells CNN.

The ship is moving at a slow pace and the evacuation operation is still going as planned, he says.

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. 

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.

“We need off this ship!” Ryan Flynn shared on Twitter along with a video of passengers wearing orange life vests.

Flynn also said that the ship “continues to pitch and roll” and called the conditions “miserable.”

But another passenger, David Hernandez, had a rosier outlook. “Crew has been fantastic keeping everyone calm and fed,” he wrote on Twitter.

Passengers were on a 12-day Northern Lights cruise that departed from Bergen, Norway on March 14. The ship was visiting different Norwegian towns and cities before arriving at its final destination of London Tillbury, England on March 26. 

The Viking Sky left Tromso on March 21 at 10:20 p.m. local time, according to Marine Traffic. It’s estimated time of arrival at Stavanger shows March 24 at 1 p.m.

Here’s what we know so far about the Viking Sky cruise ship that is evacuating 1,300 passengers and crew:

The Joint Rescue Centre says the evacuation from the Viking Sky cruise ship is proceeding with caution.

Rescuers are facing waves of about 6-8 meters (roughly 19-26 feet) high, a spokesperson said.

If you’re trying to reach someone on the ship, here are the phone numbers:

Passenger Ryan Flynn shared a video on Twitter showing the aftermath of a door being blown in on the Viking Sky.

The Viking Sky ship, owned by Viking Ocean Cruises, was built in 2017 and can hold 930 guests, according to the company’s website.

Norway’s Red Cross has started a “massive” operation and mobilized all units in the region to an area close to where a cruise ship is being evacuated, a spokesperson told CNN.

The spokesperson said more than a hundred Red Cross volunteers are working with evacuees. The Red Cross has counselors and other staff available at a gym in the community of Fraena where the evacuees are being taken by helicopter.

He said volunteers are there “for a shoulder to cry on” or for “hand holding” for people from the cruise ship after the evacuations.

From there, the evacuees are being transferred to hotels in nearby towns, the spokesperson said. 

Passenger Alexus Sheppard from Northern California says she has been waiting almost six hours to be evacuated. Most people were fairly calm, she said, and they were being served food and water.

Helicopters are airlifting passengers and crew members one person at a time, and the process could continue overnight and through Sunday. 

“We can’t say how long it would take,” said Borghild Eldoen, a spokeswoman for the Joint Rescue Centre for Southern Norway.

People on board the stranded cruise ship tell CNN the evacuation has been slow. Passengers have waited for hours to get off the boat as it was taking on water from the rough sea.  

“Crew is doing a good job. Evacuation is slow. Seas rough,” tweeted David Hernandez, who is a passenger on the ship. “One muster station had a door blow in, injure pax and flood. Moved to midship.”

The ship is in rough seas in the Hustadvika area on the western coast of Norway. The Joint Rescue Centre said on Twitter it is working to get more than one of the ship’s engines running.

Flightradar24 is tracking the helicopter rescues.

Five helicopters and a number of vessels are included in the rescue operation.

Rescuers are trying to ensure the ship stays secure and doesn’t drift as they try to get the engines working again. Right now, the ship is secured with one anchor.