Rescuers were evacuating some 1,300 passengers and crew one-by-one via helicopter from a Norwegian cruise ship on Saturday after the vessel experienced engine trouble and high winds threatened to drive it into the rocky coast.
A cruise ship with engine problems sent a mayday call off Norway's western coast on Saturday as it desperately tried to avoid being grounded on the rocky coast.
Rescue workers then launched a high-risk evacuation of the ship's 1,300 passengers and crew, winching them one-by-one up to helicopters as heaving waves tossed the ship from side to side.
The Norwegian newspaper VG said the Viking Sky cruise ship ran into propulsion problems as bad weather hit Norway's coastal regions on Saturday and it started drifting toward land. Police in the western county of Moere og Romsdal said the crew, fearing the ship would run aground, managed to anchor in Hustadsvika Bay, between the western Norwegian cities of Alesund and Trondheim, so the evacuations could take place.
Rescue teams with helicopters and boats were sent to evacuate the cruise ship under extremely difficult circumstances. Norwegian media reported gusts up to 38 knots (43 mph) and waves over 8 meters (26 feet). The area is known for its rough, frigid waters.
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