Viking Sky: Loss of propulsion and near-grounding of cruise ship

Table Of Content

• JOIN OUR CREW
• More than 400 people rescued from stranded cruise ship
• Evacuation of passengers has ended as cruise ship travels to Norway port
• TODAY IN HISTORY: 'Strange green cloud' left troops blinded and choking
• New USCG examination program to verify engine room fire safety
• The Viking Sky investigation begins; why the engine failed

To get to the life jackets, the crew member said employees had to open doors onto open decks and into the wind and form human chains to distribute the life jackets while the ship was leaning perilously close to the frigid water below. The Viking Sky, a vessel with gross tonnage of 47,800, was on a 12-day trip that began March 14 in the western Norwegian city of Bergen, according to cruisemapper.com. Accounts from passengers, a crew member and officials have provided further details as to how it all unfolded.

Lawsuit Filed Over Viking Sky Emergency - Travel Agent Central

Lawsuit Filed Over Viking Sky Emergency.

Posted: Thu, 09 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]

JOIN OUR CREW

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. "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. Norwegian authorities immediately launched a probe into the accident, which concluded Tuesday that the ship was unprepared to sail in rough seas. Helicopters are airlifting passengers and crew members one person at a time, and the process could continue overnight and through Sunday. NSIA points out that despite the extensive investigation “it has been difficult to understand why it took so long before filling of oil was started” and why it took 39 minutes for the crew to restore power and propulsion. Prior to the loss of power the engine control room registered around 200 alarms in total, with 90 tank level warnings and four low lube oil alarms.

More than 400 people rescued from stranded cruise ship

An American passenger, John Curry, told NRK he was having lunch when the cruise ship started to shake. Norwegian media reported gusts of up to 38 knots (43 mph) and waves over 8 metres (26ft) in an area known for its rough, frigid waters. “As Viking Sky did not comply with the applicable safety standards, it should not have departed Tromsoe under the prevailing circumstances,” the report said. 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. “Viking Sky did not comply with the applicable safety standards, it should not have departed Tromsø under the prevailing circumstances,” the report warns. Also, while lifeboats are ostensibly designed for situations when the ship must be abandoned swiftly, Lloyd notes that many of the International Maritime Organization standards that govern lifeboats are based on the assumption that weather is fine and visibility is good.

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

In June 2016, the engineers working on board the sister vessel Viking Sea requested information from MAN regarding the recommended oil levels. MAN was unable to give a clear answer as the tanks were designed by the shipyard and not by them. The shore organisation of the ship management company was made aware of the email exchange between Viking Sea and MAN. However, no guidance on correct filling levels or alarm set points was issued by the ship management company until after the accident on Viking Sky. The blackout meant the ship could not move forward or be steered, according to the report from the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority. The accident was caused by insufficient lubricating oil in all of the operating diesel generators' lubricating oil sump tanks, the agency said, which combined with rough waters meant the ship could not operate.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 'Strange green cloud' left troops blinded and choking

As Lloyd wrote in a report about the mistakes learned from the Costa Concordia disaster in 2012, in a scenario where the ship must be abandoned, “lifeboats, which are allowed to carry up to 150 persons, must be boarded in 10 minutes. Which is 15 per minute or if you like, a passenger every 4 seconds.” It’s hard to imagine thousands of panicked passengers, many of them elderly, and many having never been on a boat before, boarding so efficiently and swiftly in unstable conditions. 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.

New USCG examination program to verify engine room fire safety

The NMA indicated in a press release that while oil in the tanks was relatively low, it was within set limits. Lars Alvestad, the head of Norway's Maritime Authority, said Wednesday that low oil levels were the "direct cause" of the engine failure that stranded the Viking Sky on Saturday. The company's mission involved 12 pilots, seven rescue swimmers, six hoist operators, two ground support engineers and a system operator.

Idwal: Huge gaps between commitments and reality on crew welfare

Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 105,225 members delivered daily straight to your inbox. 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. Despite the Viking Sky incident, cruising is one of the safest ways to travel, according to the trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Yngve Skovly, a police inspector in the Molde region, told the Verdens Gang tabloid there was no suspicion of criminal behavior and the ship was too new to suspect maintenance problems. Its first helicopter arrived within 30 minutes after being called, and a second one later joined to assist.

The Viking Sky investigation begins; why the engine failed

Panels fell from the ceilings on top of passengers who were trying desperately to avoid harm. Among the passengers from Britain, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia were Derek and Esther Browne. The couple, from Hampshire, said the “whole boat was swaying, it was very rough” before they were airlifted to safety. Social media footage showed chairs, large pot plants and other furniture on the ship rolling across the floor and crashing into walls. Passengers were wearing orange life vests as waves broke down doors and windows and cold water poured over their feet. The purpose of this investigation has been to clarify the circumstances of the accident and identify safety issues and contributing factors.

BSM launches Smart Academy for seafarers

The accident was caused by insufficient lubricating oil in all of the operating diesel generators’ lubricating oil sump tanks, in combination with pitching and rolling in rough seas. The investigation has identified operational, technical, and organisational safety issues that in different ways contributed to the blackout. NSIA says the cruise ship should never have departed Tomso, citing the fact that one of its four diesel generators was unavailable exposing the passengers and crew to an increased risk. They allege the vessel did not have the redundancy required under the Safe Return to Port regulations, did not comply with applicable safety standards, and did not meet SOLAS regulations on issues such as the lube oil sump tank design. Further, the report says the design also did not meet the engine manufacturer’s recommendations. None of the vessels in the fleet of five sister vessels had been provided with instructions on correct lube oil sump tank filling levels or alarm setpoints.

In violation of the Safe Return to Port (SRtP) regulation the vessel departed from Tromsø two days prior to the accident with only three of its four diesel generators available. Operational, technical, and organizational deficiencies also played a role, e.g. the crew failed to transfer lube oil despite low oil level alarms going off prior to the incident. Torstein Hagen, chairman of ship owner Viking Ocean Cruises, said his company would conduct its own investigation and support government agencies reviewing the mishap.

They said while the engineers had conducted black out drills they never trained for a situation without an available standby generator. Engine failures are unusual in the cruise industry, but evacuations are extremely rare. Factors that can lead to engine failures include mechanical issues, human error or improper maintenance. 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.

Flynn also said that the ship "continues to pitch and roll" and called the conditions "miserable." "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. "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. "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." "The last 24 hours have been very, very scary, very frightening," an American passenger, Rodney Horgen, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. The Viking Sky was on a 12-day trip that began on 14 March in the western Norwegian city of Bergen, according to the cruisemapper.com website.

A Viking cruise ship needed to be evacuated over the weekend as engine trouble and stormy weather caused the ship to take on water and endanger the 1,373 passengers and crew aboard. “That kind of weather is not unusual for where that ship was, especially in March, which is a windy month,” he said, adding that had the engine not failed, things would have likely been fine onboard (if unpleasant). Regardless of the cause, every cruise line has a procedure in place for responding to engine failures, with the safety of all passengers and crew being the first priority. Passengers can also be proactive about cruise ship safety in their own ways, by paying attention during the ship's mandatory safety exercise (muster drill). About 900 passengers and crew were still onboard the Viking Sky when it arrived at the port of Molde on Norway’s west coast on Sunday afternoon.

“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. The NMA went on to say the level of lubricating oil in Viking Sky's tanks was within set limits, but was relatively low when the ship began to cross Hustadvika. Although the tanks were equipped with level alarms, they did not sound until the ship was already in rough seas. 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.