Why Did Stranded Norway Cruise Ship Set Sail?

Norwegian officials have opened an investigation into why a cruise ship carrying over 1,300 people set sail along the country’s often wild western coast despite storm warnings. The heavily-listing ship became stranded in a notoriously rough stretch of water in the Norwegian Sea. The Norwegian government announced an investigation into why the Viking Sky cruise ship set sail despite warning about the storm that forced a daring weekend rescue operation in which almost a couple left behind on an African island by a Norwegian Cruise Line ship traveled through seven countries in 48 hours to catch up to the cruise — but now may not rejoin the ship.

The Viking Sky lost power on Saturday and was surrounded by a storm in the rough, frigid waters off Norway’s western coast with 26-foot waves and wind. The cruise ship has docked in Molde harbor, western Norway, after a harrowing day stranded at sea. The country’s Accident Investigations Board will look into why the Viking Sky set sail despite warnings, leading to 479 passengers having to be rescued. The passengers, who were left behind in São Tomé and Príncipe, are now responsible for any necessary travel costs to rejoin the ship.

What was the worst cruise ship incident?

The many experts in 1912 who considered the Titanic “unsinkable” were to be proven wrong on the boat’s maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Thomas Andrews had designed the ship to withstand head-on collisions and rammings from other ships. However, the North Atlantic Ocean iceberg that took down the vessel scraped through five of its 16 watertight compartments. The boat would have reportedly remained afloat if it had only gone through four. Like other systems at the time, the Titanic’s lifeboats were designed to shepherd passengers to nearby rescue ships, not take them to shore. Unfortunately, help was many hours away in the wee hours of April 15 when the boat was going under. The poor crew organization also caused many lifeboats to leave the ship at far less than full capacity. Plus, they only had enough boats for about a third of the onboard. As a result, more than 1,500 people died — either on the ship or in the icy waters, waiting for help. A recent theory suggests a fire that started in the hull before the ship set sail weakened the vessel’s steel walls, making it susceptible to an iceberg that normally wouldn’t have caused as much damage.

In 2015, Dongfang zhi Xing was traveling on the Yangtze River in China when a thunderstorm struck, and the boat capsized. Ships in the area were warned that bad storms were coming and told to take precautions, but it is unclear if the Dongfang zhi Xing ever received the warnings and continued to sail. The ship was met with winds of up to 72-85 mph, and ultimately, a downburst (a strong downward wind) caused the ship to capsize and sink. Out of the 454 people on board, only 12 survived, making the total number of dead 442.

A generator fire on Carnival Cruise Lines’s Triumph (now called Carnival Sunrise) left the ship powerless, and a late-night comedy punchline was born: “The Poop Cruise.” Without working bathrooms, passengers were forced to drop their payloads into red “hazardous waste” bags and stuff them into garbage cans left in the hall. Passengers described carpets soaked with more than two inches of raw sewage. News reports described the scene as a “shanty town” and a “new circle of hell.” One passenger reportedly called her husband and told him that their 12-year-old daughter had Skittles for breakfast. It took four days for the Triumph to be towed from the Gulf of Mexico to Mobile, Alabama, where it was possible to smell the ship from the dock. Later, 31 passengers claimed long-lasting damage, including PTSD, and sued. After the verdict, 27 of them split $118,000, many earning less than $3,000 (minus legal fees) for their troubles.

What happened to the Norway cruise ship?

In July 2008 the legendary SS Norway was dismantled at the ships’ graveyard: the beaches of Alang, India. Ship enthusiasts had been praying for a reprieve since she was removed from service following a boiler explosion in 2003, but several plans to save her came to nothing.

Many ship enthusiasts experienced a period of mourning. On the other hand, many cruise passengers have probably never heard of the SS Norway, and others would have considered her to be an outdated rusty old tub, anyway.

The SS Norway was owned an operated by the Norwegian Cruise Line for just over two and a half decades. However, she had a life before this. She entered service in 1962 as the ‘SS France’, a grand Ocean Liner and the last ‘ship of state’ for the French Line ‘CGT’ (Compagnie Générale Transatlantique). She quickly gained a reputation for style and excellent cuisine,servingthe transatlantic route between Le Harve and New York.

Why did Viking Sky sail into storm?

Five years after Viking’s cruise ship Viking Sky blacked out during a storm and came within a ship’s length of a disastrous grounding, the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority (NSIA) issued a highly critical report of the cruise line and the operational managers while also saying the design, shipyard, and classification society also have a role in the incident. The NSIA report agrees with the earlier finding of the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) that the root cause was an insufficient level of oil in the ship’s tanks, but in disputed finding cites likely possible SOLAS violations, saying the ship should never have departed Tromso, Norway two days earlier.

The Viking Sky (47,800 gross tons) entered service in 2017 as one of the class of new Fincantieri-built cruise ships for Viking’s ocean cruise line. The two-year-old cruise ship departed Tromso on March 21, 2019, and two days later on the afternoon of March 23 blacked out with 1,374 people aboard losing all propulsion and steering while in a severe Norwegian coastal storm.

Conditions were too bad to evacuate the ship which drifted helplessly and nearly grounded in what NSIA calls an accident that “had the potential to develop into one of the worst disasters at sea in modern times.” The captain was able to maneuver the ship into deeper water when power was restored while more than 400 passengers were removed by helicopter. As many as 900 people remained aboard the ship, many with broken bones and injuries, while the Viking Sky eventually was able to limp into port.

What happened to the Norwegian Escape cruise ship?

Operations on board have not been impacted. And all services and activities. Continue as scheduled the company also said they’re working on a solution to free the ship.

How much did the Song of Norway ship cost?

It cost more than the company’s first ship, the $13.5m Song of Norway.

With the handover of the ship on Tuesday in Bremerhaven, builder Meyer Werft released the first image of Two70°, pictured here. The RoboScreens are not visible since they are retracted into the ceiling.

Royal Caribbean teamed with ABB Robotics, a leading supplier of industrial robots, and the pioneering Las Vegas-based Robotic Arts, whose patented RoboScreen technology fuses robotics and high-definition projection screens. Andy Flessas, president of Robotic Arts, who designed how the robots move with the music and interact with live performers, has called it ‘the most complex robotics project on the planet.’

The six agile LED screens are attached to ABB’s robotic arms, all mounted on a movable gantry. This is lowered from the ceiling into a play position where the screens move in many directions and can be layered to create a 3-D effect.

Did the Norwegian Dawn depart without passengers?

The ship, the Norwegian Dawn, set sail without them – and it was right to do so. Eight cruise passengers, including two Australians, have allegedly been left stranded on an African island after their ship left without them.

What happened to the song of Norway cruise ship?

The 200-metre-long cruise ship had quite a tumultuous history: Cruises became increasingly popular in the years following its commissioning. Song of Norway was extended by 30 metres – an unprecedented building project for a cruise ship at the time. The vessel changed shipping companies and names on several occasions from 1997 onwards, until it was eventually scrapped in 2013.

What happened in the Viking Sky incident?

The Viking Sky was carrying 1,374 passengers when it lost power and became stranded in a notoriously rough stretch of water in the Norwegian Sea. The ship came close to crashing into Norway’s rocky coast, and hundreds of people were evacuated over the course of several hours.

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.

The investigation found that one of the vessel’s four diesel generators was “unavailable” when it left port, the agency said, meaning that the cruise ship was not in compliance with safety standards and should have never sailed. The design of the sump tank on the working generators was also “non-compliant with applicable regulations,” the investigation found.

What is the scandal with Norwegian Cruise Lines?

Eight people have accused Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) of abandoning them on a tiny island in Africa after a private tour ran late and the group missed the embarkation cut-off time.

Four of the group are elderly and another is pregnant, and though the ship was still at anchor, they were denied boarding.

The ship, the Norwegian Dawn,set sail without them— and it was right to do so.

Once, I was late to check in for a flight. I jumped out of the taxi, sprinted to the counter (which is no mean feat when you’re hauling luggage) and arrived at the desk sweating bullets, prepared to get on my knees and grovel if it meant I’d be allowed through.

Which Norwegian cruise ship left without passengers?

A month after eight Norwegian Cruise Line passengers were stranded in Africa when their ship left without them because they were late getting back, a US couple – ages 84 and 81 – were also left behind by the cruise line in Spain.

Richard and Claudene Gordon of Salt Lake City, Utah, were on a Mediterranean cruise aboard Norwegian Viva with family and friends and looking forward to celebrating Richard’s 85th birthday later this week.

While the ship was docked in Motril, Spain, on Monday, the pair took an independent excursion by themselves to the historic city of Granada, not organized by the cruise line. On their return, their bus was delayed for an hour by a rain storm, Richard Gordon told CNN by phone.

Why are Norwegian cruises being cancelled?

In a statement, the company said that the cancellations “are a result of varied events, including the ongoing situation in the Red Sea and Israel, modified dry dock schedules for ship enhancements, a full ship charter, and lastly, to accommodate the demand for shorter close-to-home voyages to the Bahamas.”