viking cruise incidents

• International

Israel-Hamas war

Trump hush money trial

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

By Eliza Mackintosh and Kendall Trammell , CNN

What we know about the Viking Sky cruise ship

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

• It's owned by Viking Ocean Cruises
• It was built in 2017
• It can hold maximum of 1,443 passengers and crew
• It has six engines, four diesel and two electric

Here are the phone numbers for questions about any passengers

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:

• US/AU booked guests: 1-888-889-8837
• UK booked guests: 07585 779 853 or 0208 780 7900

This is the scene onboard after a wave crashed into the ship

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 is starting a "massive" operation to help evacuees

From CNN's Susanna Capelouto

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 says she's been waiting almost 6 hours to be evacuated

From CNN's Kay Guerrero

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.

Passengers are getting airlifted one by one

From CNN's Nicole Chavez

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.

The cruise ship was flooding as passengers waited to be evacuated

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."

Rough sea winds are making the rescue difficult

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.

115 people have been rescued so far

Norwegian rescue officials said 115 passengers have so far been rescued by helicopter from a stranded Viking cruise ship off the coast of Norway.

The Joint Rescue Centre for Southern Norway told CNN the rescue operations will continue throughout the night and into Sunday as the ship had 1,300 people on board when it first sent a distress signal due to “engine problems in bad weather.”

Please enable JavaScript for a better experience.

DEVELOPING: Israel carries out strike in Iran

'Rogue wave' hits Viking cruise ship, killing 1 passenger and injuring 4 others

One person died and four others were injured after a "rogue wave" hit the Viking Polaris cruise ship while it was sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, on Tuesday night, officials said.

“It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident,” Viking said in a statement Thursday. “We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest sympathies. We will continue to offer our full support to the family in the hours and days ahead.”

The name and hometown of the passenger was not released, but Argentine authorities identified her as a 62-year-old American who was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows, according to The Associated Press .

The four other guests had non-life-threatening injuries and received treatment from doctors and medical staff onboard.

Rogue waves, or extreme storm waves, are uncommon, unpredictable and "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves," according to the National Ocean Service . They are described as "walls of water" in most reports.

Suzie Gooding, who was on the ship when the incident happened, recalled feeling like they'd hit an iceberg, according to NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Everything was fine until the rogue wave hit, and it was just sudden. Shocking,” Gooding told the news station. “We didn’t know if we should get our gear ready for abandoning ship.”

The ship "sustained limited damage during the incident" and arrived in Ushuaia Wednesday afternoon, Viking said in its statement.

"We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities," the company said. "Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel."

The Viking Polaris’ next departure, the Antarctic Explorer cruise scheduled for Dec. 5-17, was canceled due to the incident.

Breaking news reporter

• Travel Updates

Viking Sky cruise ship stranded off Norway towed to shore as ‘traumatised’ passengers hospitalised

Traumatised passengers on board a cruise ship engulfed by a massive storm have recalled the announcement that filled them with fear.

Travellers frantic as airport ‘runs out of food’

Couple believed to be killed by sheep

Migrant with ‘not criminals’ sign rapes 15yo

Traumatised passengers on board the Viking Sky have told of their terror aboard the cruise liner as it was battered by a massive storm off the coast of Norway.

Speaking to news.com.au, Australian passenger Stephen Medcalf — who was on his first cruise experience with wife Judith — said the trip started to take a turn for the worst while at sea on the Saturday night.

“We were quite comfortable, but we heard reports of people falling out of bed because of the rougher conditions,” he explained.

“On the Saturday morning, the weather really started to deteriorate. Chairs and potplants were falling everywhere, and the swell started getting bigger and bigger.

“At 1.30pm, Judith and I went to lunch, and then at 2pm, the engines failed and lost power. That’s when the ship turned in to the swell and was rolling 45 degrees. There were chairs, glasses and wine bottles flying everywhere.”

Mr Medcalf, who travelled with his wife from the Sunshine Coast to go on the cruise, said they were evacuated from the cafe area on level seven and told to go to their state rooms by crew members.

Feeling calm, it wasn’t until the captain made an announcement about the ship that made Mr Metcalf “nervous”.

“When the emergency signal was given and everyone had to put on their life jackets, the captain made another announcement that made me a little nervous,” he said.

“He came on the loudspeaker and called out a mayday, and put out emergency advice that he wanted to evacuate the whole ship.

“But the key words that worried me were when he said ‘close all water tight doors.’ That was a key indicator that we were in for big trouble. That made us feel a little tense.”

With 1373 passengers and crew on board, the ship was hit by 26ft waves and 50km/h gusts of wind while at sea, running in to trouble on day eight of the 12-day “In Search of the Northern Lights” cruise.

At least 20 tourists were injured, requiring hospitalisation, and 480 were winched to safety by helicopter.

Passengers described conditions as comparable to “being on the Titanic” and feared they would drown as the ship was tossed around the Norwegian Sea.

Dramatic footage showed furniture sliding around the deck, chairs falling over and debris falling from ceilings as the liner drifted within 100 metres of underwater rocks near the town of Alesund on Norway’s west coast.

One huge wave broke the window of a door leading from a restaurant on to the deck, causing water to flood in and soak passengers. Among those injured on board were a 70-year-old woman and 90-year-old man who suffered fractured limbs.

The captain of the Viking Cruises liner issued a mayday call and declared a full-scale emergency after losing three of his four engines in terrible conditions at 2pm on Saturday.

Reports suggested crew attempted to ready lifeboats for an evacuation, but the huge waves made it impossible.

Instead the coastguard was called in and rescue helicopters spent much of Saturday night and early yesterday morning airlifting passengers in ones and twos.

But following the rescue and subsequent docking of the ship, experts are questioning why the captain continued the voyage and sail when many Norwegian ferry operators had stayed in port because the weather forecast had warned of gale force winds and rough seas.

In an interview with the Daily Mail , Davis, from Manchester, who waited ten hours to be rescued with wife Barbara, said: “Locals told us they were amazed that we sailed into the teeth of a storm they knew was coming,” he said.

The two-year-old Viking Sky had sailed from Tromso in Arctic Norway on Thursday night and was thought to be sailing straight to Stavanger — missing out a planned call in Bodo in the north of the country. The cruise had started in Bergen on March 14 and was to end her journey at Tilbury, Essex, on Tuesday.

The ship was in a shallow stretch of water known as Hustadvika, which is renowned for its fierce weather, when the storm hit.

Weathermodels.com meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted evacuated passengers were “lucky”.

“The ship sailed in worst possible area ‘bomb cyclone’ storm,” he wrote.

“Hurricane force winds and maximum wave height of 60 — 80 feet (18m — 24m).”

Viking Cruise ship evacuating passengers off coast of Norway -- engine trouble. They are lucky ... The ship sailed in worst possible area of "bomb cyclone" storm ... Hurricane force winds + Maximum wave height of 60-80 feet. https://t.co/tA8b1d8yMJ pic.twitter.com/Lw3H45wRsy — Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) March 23, 2019

According to Fox News , a ‘bomb cyclone’ or ‘bombogenesis’ means a storm is expected to rapidly intensify, dropping 24 millibars (or atmospheric pressure) over a 24-hour span. A typical range in millibars is around 10 to 15.

Basically, the popular term is used by meteorologists to refer to a rapidly intensifying area of low pressure. A decrease in pressure intensifies the power of the storm, and can be tropical or non-tropical.

“The term bombogenesis comes from the merging of two words: bomb and cyclogenesis. All storms are cyclones, and genesis means the creation or beginning,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said in a blog post.

“In this case, bomb refers to explosive development. Altogether the term means explosive storm strengthening.”

Maritime lawyer and cruise liner expert Jim Walker also questioned why the ship ventured in to the storm, considering how many people were on board.

“The central question remains why did Viking take their guests into such a storm?” Mr Walker told the Daily Mail.

“This part of the world is well known to be the graveyard of many ships.

“This was a very dangerous voyage that the Viking Sky went on in rough weather in an area well known to have very, very little room for error. The Norwegian press reported that Norwegian ferries did not try and sail in this weather but the Viking cruise ship did anyway. That’s a big concern.”

Olav Stromsholme, who captains diving boats in the area, told The Times it was the “the most dangerous coast in all Norway”.

But when Viking Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen was questioned asked why the cruise ship ventured into an area known for its rough waters in the middle of a storm that had been forecast by meteorologists, Knudsen, from Norway’s rescue service, said it was the captain’s decision to proceed with the cruise.

According to The Independent , the shipping forecast for the planned voyage was for “gale-force winds and very rough seas”.

The captain declared a mayday at 2pm on Saturday afternoon, 23 March, after the cruise ship “experienced a loss of engine power off the coast of Norway near Molde”.

The captain was unable to make progress or steer, causing the ship to be hit by extreme waves. It was then that an emergency was declared.

Denise and Michael Tozer, both 64, of Hertfordshire in the UK, told the Daily Mail they were among the first 100 to be flown to safety.

“We were sitting there and it was rocking, we could hear the bulk doors being shut and no engine, we really thought our time had come,” Mrs Tozer said, who she was on the seventh deck, close to the ship’s swimming pool, when she was knocked over and required stitches.

“We could tell we were very close to the rocks because we could see them. (The ship) just went — chairs, tables, crockery, big pot plants smashed in front of me, I went with those.

“We were frightened we would fall out of the window into the sea. Thoughts go through your head about what could have happened, but we were lucky.”

On Sunday, the crew managed to restart another engine allowing the ship to dock in Molde, 330 miles northwest of Oslo, with 900 passengers and crew on board.

Passengers, who paid around £4,000 (AU$7500) each for the cruise, were yesterday being offered counselling services at makeshift evacuation centres in the town.

Viking Cruises is owned by Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen, who visited injured passengers in hospital yesterday. Many are likely to mount compensation claims.

“Most of our passengers are senior citizens … imagine what it’s like to hang there on that wire. It must be a terrible experience but they seem to have handled it very well.,” Mr Hagan said.

A Viking spokesman thanked the emergency services, adding: “Throughout all this, our first priority was for the safety and wellbeing of our passengers and our crew.”

The passengers were mostly an English-speaking mix of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian citizens.

The Viking Oceans Cruise company said the ship’s next scheduled trip, to Scandinavia and Germany that was to leave on Wednesday, was cancelled. Norway’s Accident Investigations Board said the ship would remain in Molde, pending an investigation.

Mr Metcalf, who was winched to safety along with his wife at 3.30am on Sunday morning, said staff couldn’t have been more supportive or thorough during the ordeal.

“From the captain down to the crew, everyone remained really calm,” he said.

“The captain gave us constant updates, and stayed on the bridge for 36 hours and giving us updates every 30 minutes.

Stressed passengers at Dubai’s major airports, including those travelling from Australia, have said conditions are dire.

A sheep is believed to have killed a New Zealand man and a woman after police made a grim discovery in a paddock.

A failed asylum seeker whose deportation was blocked when do-gooder cabin crew refused to fly him home has pleaded guilty to raping a 15-year-old girl.

A 443-foot long Viking cruise ship collided with cargo ship with 'no significant injuries'

A Viking cruise ship collided with another vessel over the weekend, the cruise line said.

The Viking Kvasir  – a 443-foot long ship that can accommodate 190 passengers and 50 crew members – collided with a cargo ship in heavy fog on Sunday morning, a Viking spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email. The incident took place near Wesel, Germany.

"There were no significant injuries among guests or crew," the spokesperson said. "The ship was cleared by authorities the evening of September 11 and has now continued its voyage without further delay."

Viking did not say whether passengers aboard the ship would be compensated following the collision.

Cruise lines change COVID-19 rules: Azamara and Silversea Cruises drop vaccine requirements following major lines

Expedition cruising in Alaska: How to see the wilder, less visited side of the 49th state

The incident is not the first of its kind for Viking. Twenty-eight were killed in a collision  on the Danube River involving the Viking Sigyn ship in May 2019. Another Viking ship, Viking Freya, previously struck a bridge in southern Germany in 2016, killing two crew members, CBS News  reported.

Viking launched its first river ship based in North America earlier this month, welcoming passengers aboard the Viking Mississippi in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 3. The ship will sail itineraries on the Upper and Lower Mississippi River between St. Paul and New Orleans.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Rogue Wave Strikes Cruise Ship, Killing a Passenger and Injuring 4 Others

The passengers were hurt after a large, unpredictable wave hit the ship, which was traveling toward the Antarctic, Viking Cruises said.

By Amanda Holpuch

A passenger died and four others were injured after a large, unexpected wave hit a cruise ship traveling toward a popular launching point for expeditions to Antarctica, Viking Cruises said.

The ship, the Viking Polaris, was struck by a “rogue wave” on Tuesday at 10:40 p.m. local time while traveling toward Ushuaia, Argentina, which is on the southern tip of South America, Viking Cruises said in a statement .

Viking Cruises did not say how the passenger was killed or provide the passenger’s name. The four passengers who were injured were treated by onboard medical staff and had non-life-threatening injuries, Viking Cruises said.

A State Department official said that a U.S. citizen died and that the department was offering consular assistance to the person’s family.

Rogue waves are unpredictable, typically twice the size of surrounding waves and often come from a different direction than the surrounding wind and waves, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . Scientists are still trying to figure out how and when these uncommon waves form.

Ann Mah, of Topeka, Kan., told the news station WIBW that she and her husband were on the ship when it was hit by the wave and that it was “just like your whole house got shook really hard.”

“I mean, it was just a thud,” Ms. Mah said.

The Viking Polaris was launched this year and was designed for travel to remote destinations such as the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship is 665 feet long and can carry 378 passengers and 256 crew members.

The ship sustained “limited damage” from the wave and arrived in Ushuaia the day after it was struck, Viking Cruises said.

The cruise company canceled the Viking Polaris’s next scheduled trip, a 13-day cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula.

“We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities,” the company said.

Tourism to the Antarctic has steadily increased in the last 30 years, with 74,401 people traveling there in the 2019-20 season, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. Roughly 6,700 people traveled there in the 1992-93 season, according to the association.

In recent years, some observers have warned that the increase in tourism may not be sustainable and that it could threaten visitor safety or disrupt the fragile environment, which is already straining under the effects of climate change.

It is the beginning of the Antarctic tourism season, which coincides with its summer, beginning in late October or early November and usually lasting until March.

The death on the Viking Cruises ship this week comes after the death of two other cruise ship passengers in the Antarctic last month. Two Quark Expeditions cruise ship passengers died after one of the ship’s heavy duty inflatable Zodiac boats overturned near shore, Seatrade Cruise News reported .

Amanda Holpuch is a general assignment reporter. More about Amanda Holpuch

US Citizen Killed When ‘Rogue' Wave Hit Viking Cruise Ship in Antarctic

The 62-year-old woman was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows late tuesday during a storm, argentine authorities said, by ap and staff • published december 2, 2022 • updated on december 4, 2022 at 10:34 am.

A U.S. woman was killed and four other passengers injured when a massive wave struck the Viking Polaris cruise ship while it was sailing toward the port of Ushuaia in southern Argentina on an Antarctic cruise, authorities said.

The 62-year-old woman was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows late Tuesday during a storm, Argentine authorities said. The ship suffered limited damage and arrived in Ushuaia, 1,926 miles south of Buenos Aires, the next day.

“It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident," Viking said in a statement. “We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest sympathies.”

Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.

Neither the statement nor the Argentine Naval Prefecture identified the woman or her hometown.

Viking called it a “rogue wave incident” and said the four other passengers' injuries were non-life threatening.

A North Carolina couple aboard the ship told NBC affiliate WRAL that they thought "we hit an iceberg" when the wave crashed into the cruise ship.

U.S. & World

Israel carried out strike in Iran, source says

Jawbone found by rock-collecting child identified as U.S. Marine who died in 1951 training accident

"There are no icebergs out here, but that's how it felt," Suzie Gooding said.

Gooding told the news station that the impact was "shocking" because it happened so suddenly.

"We didn't know if we should get our gear ready for abandoning ship," she added.

The cruise ship was anchored near Ushuaia, where a federal court has opened a case to determine what happened.

NOAA's National Ocean Service describes these "rogue" waves as "walls of water" that are often steep-sided with unusually deep troughs.

"Rogues, called 'extreme storm waves' by scientists, are those waves which are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves, are very unpredictable, and often come unexpectedly from directions other than prevailing wind and waves," the agency explains.

The company indicated on its website that to explore remote regions of the world they have “two purpose-built, state-of-the-art small expedition-class ships: Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris.”

The Viking Polaris, a vessel that has luxury facilities and was built in 2022, has capacity for 378 passengers and 256 crew members.

This article tagged under:

A Viking Cruises crew member died after falling overboard in Scotland

• A Viking Cruises crew member died after falling overboard on Friday, BBC first reported.
• The employee fell from the company's Mars ship while at the Port of Cromarty Firth in Scotland.
• The man, reportedly in his 40s, is the most recent person to fall from a cruise ship this summer.

A Viking Cruises employee died after falling from a ship on Friday, BBC reported . The incident occurred at the Port of Cromarty Firth in Invergordon, Scotland. 

Police Scotland confirmed to Insider they received reports of the man falling overboard a Viking Mars cruise ship around 11 a.m. Friday. The man, reportedly in his 40s, was airlifted to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, a hospital about 120 miles from Invergordon. He died a few hours later, a police spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson said they sent a report to the Procurator Fiscal, Scotland's "public prosecution service and death investigation authority," according to its website . 

Related stories

Viking on Sunday confirmed the employee's death to the BBC. 

"We shared our deepest sympathies with the crew member's family and are working to ensure they have the support they need during this difficult time," a statement to the outlet read. 

Viking did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of regular working hours.

The company's Mars cruise ship primarily sails throughout Europe but has expeditions across the Atlantic and to Central America.

"Viking's focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our crew and guests," the statement continued. "Our operations team is working with local authorities to determine how this occurred."

The Viking crew member is the latest person to have fallen from a cruise ship. In May, a Carnival Magic passenger fell overboard after leaning over his room's balcony. It was his first cruise.

In June, passengers banded together to help look for a woman who'd fallen from the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean ship . She was ultimately saved after a nearly hourlong rescue .

Watch: Airplane accidents are 95% survivable. Here are seven ways to increase those odds even more.

• Main content

Passengers on Antarctic cruise ship hit by deadly 'rogue wave' speak out

The Trusdales were passengers on the Viking Polaris cruise ship last week.

Tom and Pam Trusdale were enjoying a bucket list trip to Antarctica , until their trip of a lifetime turned into a deadly disaster.

"It was going real smoothly, and we were only anticipating nothing but smooth going forward," Tom Trusdale told ABC News.

The Trusdales were passengers on the Viking Polaris cruise ship sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, when it was hit by a "rogue wave" last week , killing an American passenger, Sheri Zhu, and injuring four others.

"Good Morning America" airs at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.

The Trusdales said the wave wasn't the only disaster. The Trusdales and ABC News later confirmed that a day before the accident, another passenger was seriously injured during a Zodiac boat excursion.

"It was a real loud, it was a boom, and I flew up in the air, and the passenger across from me flew up in the air. She came down and hit hard," Pam Trusdale said.

MORE: 'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured

Tom Trusdale said he saw two passengers tossed into the air from what seemed to be an apparent explosion.

"I saw the woman go, probably about 3 feet in the air, and then the gentleman straight across from me go up in the air, and then roll over into the sea," Tom Trusdale said. "So I went across and leaned over the pontoon, and I just grabbed on to the life jacket. He was face up, so he was stabilized, and I reassured him that, 'Hey, you're safe.'"

Related Stories

SCOTUS appears divided on Jan. 6 charges case

• Apr 16, 12:59 PM

Kansas women ID'd as 2 dead bodies in Oklahoma

• Apr 16, 7:46 PM

OJ Simpson dies at 76

• Apr 11, 6:32 PM

Tom Trusdale said he and another passenger were able to quickly pull the man back on the boat, but the woman's leg was severely injured.

"She said, 'I hurt my legs. I can't feel my leg,'" Pam Trusdale said. " And then I could hear her kind of straining that, you know, I could tell that she was in a lot of pain."

The passenger's leg required surgery, which led the ship's captain to turn back to Argentina. During the trip back toward Argentina, through a known turbulent stretch of ocean, was when the "rogue wave" crashed into the cruise ship.

"This wave hit it and came over and literally broke through windows and just washed into these rooms, and not only did it wash into the rooms, but it broke walls down, and once some walls went into the next room," Tom Trusdale said.

Viking said in a statement on its website that it's investigating the wave incident and is committed to the safety and security of all guests and crew.

Viking issued a second statement about the Zodiac boat incident, saying: "On November 28, the Viking Polaris deployed a small boat with six guests and one crew member near Damoy Point, Antarctica. On this trip a guest sustained a serious but non-life-threatening leg injury while on board the small boat and was taken to the medical center on the Viking Polaris."

"Following a detailed diagnosis by the ship's medical team, the decision was taken for the ship to immediately sail to Ushuaia so that the guest could receive additional medical care from a shore-based hospital," it continued. "The guest is now recovering shoreside in Ushuaia and will then return home; Viking is continuing to support them during this period. We are committed to the safety and security of all our guests and crew, and we are investigating the cause of the incident."

Related Topics

Trump campaigns after court amid jury selection

• Apr 17, 3:42 PM

Senate kills Mayorkas impeachment trial

• Apr 17, 5:52 PM

ABC News Live

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

• Subscriptions

Grab a Seat at the Captain’s Table

Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.

Join our crew and become one of the 105,430 members that receive our newsletter.

Illustration shows the MS Viking Polaris. Credit: VARD

Rogue Wave Kills Passenger on Viking’s Newest Polar Expedition Cruise Ship

Share this article.

One person was killed and four others injured after a Viking expedition cruise ship was struck by a rogue wave off the southern tip of South America this week.

The “rogue wave incident” happened on Tuesday, November 29, on board the Viking Polaris , which Viking only recently took delivery of in September, as it was sailing towards Ushuaia, Argentina, Viking Cruises confirmed in a statement.

“It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident. We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest sympathies,” the statement said. Four other passengers sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were treated on board.

The ship suffered limited damage, reportedly with several broken windows, and arrived in port in Ushuaia on the afternoon of November 30.

Norwegian-flagged expedition #ship #VikingPolaris in the port of #Ushuaia , #Argentina , after an #accident in which one passenger died and four others were injured. In the midst of a #storm , a giant wave broke several glass panels of the ship’s cabins. Via @Sharjah24 pic.twitter.com/sI3ZIcGStr — ??MarioDeFenza?? (@MarioDeFenza) December 2, 2022

Waves are generally classed as ‘rogue’ when they are over twice the height of the average sea state around them.  The Drake Passage, extending between Cape Horn at South America’s southernmost tip and Antarctica, is notorious for its extreme weather conditions and turbulent seas.

Study Shows Rogue Waves Are Becoming More Extreme

“We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities,” Viking’s statement said. “Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel.”

The deceased victim has reportedly been identified as a 62-year-old American woman.

Viking Polaris is Viking’s second purpose-built “Polar Class” expedition ship and was delivered by Fincantieri’s VARD shipyard in Søviknes, Norway in September. Both Viking Polaris and sister ship Viking Octanis , delivered in December 2021, are spending the austral summer in Antarctica, before traveling to the Great Lakes for a series of voyages starting next spring and summer. The vessels, with a length of 205 meters and a beam of 23.5 meters, have a passenger capacity of 378 people.

As a result of the incident, Viking has cancelled the ship’s next scheduled departure on December 5.

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Be the First to Know

Join the 105,430 members that receive our newsletter.

Have a news tip? Let us know.

Stay Ahead with Our Weekly ‘Dispatch’ Email

Dive into a sea of curated content with our weekly ‘Dispatch’ email. Your personal maritime briefing awaits!

Related Articles

Maritime Response to Baltimore Key Bridge Collapse Kicks Into Gear

The response to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge kicked into high gear on Friday, with significant resources and maritime assets arriving on scene or en route. The...

Norway Releases Report on ‘Viking Sky’ Propulsion Loss and Near-Grounding

By Malte Humpert (gCaptain) – The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority (NSIA) released its report on the loss of propulsion and near-grounding of cruise ship Viking Sky on 23 March 2019....

US-Flag Laker Suffers ‘Marine Casualty’ in Michigan

A U.S.-flagged cargo vessel, the American Mariner, collided with the Mud Lake Junction Light in Munuscong Lake, Michigan, earlier today. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that the 714-foot bulk cargo ship...

Why Join the gCaptain Club?

Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.

OUT AT SEA?

We’ve got you covered with trusted maritime and offshore news from wherever you are.

JOIN OUR CREW

Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 105,430 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.

Your Gateway to the Maritime World!

Gcaptain’s full coverage of the maritime shipping industry, including containerships, tankers, dry bulk, lng, breakbulk and more..

Privacy Overview

Watch CBS News

Norway launches probe as Viking Sky cruise passengers recount harrowing rescue

March 25, 2019 / 9:26 AM EDT / CBS News

Everyone who had been on board a stranded cruise ship, including many Americans, was safe Monday morning after a terrifying voyage off the coast of Norway . The Viking Sky was carrying just over 1,300 passengers and crew when it sent a distress signal on Saturday.

The vessel had lost power and started drifting toward land while rocking violently. The heavily-listing ship became stranded in a notoriously rough stretch of water in the Norwegian Sea. On Monday, Norway's government announced an investigation into why the ship had left port in the first place despite storm warnings.

"The high risk which the ship, its passengers and crew were exposed to made us decide to investigate the incident," Dag S. Liseth, who heads the Norwegian Accident Investigations Board, said on Monday.

As CBS News correspondent Roxana Saberi reported, video from inside the Viking Sky showed passengers dodging furniture as it flew across the floor and panels falling from the ceiling on Saturday. Outside, heavy winds and 26-foot waves whipped the luxury cruise ship that lost power for reasons remained unclear two days later.

As the ship see-sawed, a passenger filmed the icy waters gushing across the floor. Rodney Horgen of Minnesota said he was terrified.

"I thought this was it, at that time. The water is going to rush in, and this is it," he recalled of the vacation-gone-wrong.

At risk of crashing onto the nearby rocky coast of Norway, the ship dropped anchor and started to evacuate. For several hours, Norwegian rescue helicopters air-lifted more than half of the roughly 900 passengers off the stricken vessel, including Susan and Allan Dullberg, to safety.

"I am 71, he is 74 -- well, they took us up together and we got hooked in, and lifted up, that was quite a jolt," Susan said.

As the seas calmed on Sunday, the ship managed to restart three of its four engines, but tug-boats still towed the Viking Sky back to port.

Hospitals in Norway said nine people from the cruise remained hospitalized on Monday, including one in critical condition. The Red Cross said many others had been left traumatized.

More from CBS News

What is cloud seeding and did it impact Dubai's floods?

Israel blames starvation in Gaza on U.N. making excuses

Log book from WWII ship mysteriously ends up in piece of furniture

U.K. takes big step closer to a phased-in ban on all tobacco sales

• CruiseMapper

Viking Venus accidents and incidents

Length (LOA) 228 m / 748 ft

  Tracker   Ship Wiki

CruiseMapper's Viking Venus cruise ship accidents, incidents and law news reports relate to a 930-passenger vessel owned by Viking Ocean (Viking Cruises) . Our Viking Venus accidents page contains reports made by using official data from renown online news media sources, US Coast Guard and Wikipedia.

Here are also reported latest updates on cruise law news related to ashore and shipboard crimes still investigated by the police. Among those could be arrests, filed lawsuits against the shipowner / cruise line company, charges and fines, grievances, settled / withdrawn legal actions, lost cases, virus outbreaks , etc.

• In 2020 were cancelled 8 itineraries from the new ship's inaugural cruise season in Northern Europe. In 2021 were cancelled 4 more Northern European itineraries.

You can add more details on reported here accident or submit new / your own Viking Venus ship incident ("Cruise Minus" report) via CruiseMapper's contact form .