Traumatised Britons last night told of their terror aboard a cruise liner battered by a massive storm.
And as the holidaymakers finally docked safely in Norway yesterday, many began asking why the Viking Sky had sailed in such appalling conditions.
The liner had been hit by 26ft waves and began swaying violently close to rocks off the coast of Norway amid 50mph gusts.
Viking Sky was hit by 26ft waves in the Norwegian Sea and passengers said conditions were comparable to ‘being on the Titanic’ and feared they would drown. The ship arrives at Molde (pictured) in Norway today
The cruise liner was on its eighth day of the 12-day ‘In Search of the Northern Lights’ cruise
Passengers on board the Viking Sky wear life jackets as they wait to be evacuated on Saturday. As many as 1,300 passengers and crew were rescued from the disabled cruise ship by helicopter
As many as 200 British tourists were among the 1,373 passengers and crew onboard when it ran into trouble on day eight of the 12-day ‘In Search of the Northern Lights’ cruise.
At least 20 tourists were injured 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.
Denise and Michael Tozer, both 64, of Harpenden, Hertfordshire, were among the first 100 to be airlifted to safety.
Denise and Michael Tozer, both 64, from Harpenden in Hertfordshire, were airlifted to safety
Mrs Tozer was on the seventh deck near the ship’s swimming pool, when she was knocked down
Mrs Tozer said she was on the seventh deck, close to the ship’s swimming pool, when she was knocked over.
She suffered bruising to her face and needed several stitches to her leg.
She added: ‘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.
‘We could tell we were very close to the rocks because we could see them. It [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.’
The couple, who run their own textiles firm and have been married for 40 years, said they texted family in the UK to say they loved them in case the worst happened.
‘We are traumatised and in shock,’ Mr Tozer added.
Roberta Thake, of Lymington, Hampshire, said the most frightening part was hanging beneath the helicopter and being winched to safety in driving winds and rain.
Roberta Thake from Lymington, Hampshire, said the most frightening part was hanging beneath the helicopter in driving winds and rain
‘It was really windy – one of the crew had to hold you because you could have been blown to the side,’ she said.
‘I thought to myself I had to stay calm, perhaps because I was travelling on my own I had to look after myself… it could have been so different. It was a close call.’
Dramatic footage showed furniture skidding around the deck and debris falling from ceilings as the liner drifted within 330ft 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 onboard 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 life boats for an evacuation, but the huge waves made it impossible.
Instead the coastguard was called in and five rescue helicopters spent much of Saturday night and early yesterday morning painstakingly airlifting passengers in ones and twos.
Photos taken by passengers and crew were posted on social media showing elderly people wearing life jackets huddled in corridors and asleep in lifts.
Other images revealed the extent of the devastation onboard, with broken glass from doors and windows covering floors in public areas, upturned tables, and chairs in the swimming pool.
The crew fortunately managed to restart another engine and it limped into dock in Molde, 330 miles north-west of Oslo, with 900 passengers and crew onboard yesterday afternoon.
Passengers, who paid around £4,000 each for the cruise, were yesterday being offered counselling services at make-shift evacuation centres in the town.
But questions were being asked about why the captain had decided to sail when many Norwegian ferry operators had stayed in port because the weather forecast had warned of gale force winds and rough seas.
George 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.’
A shot from the ship shows plants and tables roll down the deck of the stricken liner which tilts as it is hit by waves
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.
Hans Vik, a rescue co-ordinator for Norwegian police, said: ‘The ship drifted to within 100 metres of running aground before they were able to restart one of the engines. If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster.’
Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer and cruise liner expert, said: ‘The central question remains why did Viking take their guests into such a storm? 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’.
Viking Cruises is owned by Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen, who visited injured passengers in hospital yesterday. Many are likely to mount compensation claims.
Mr Hagen said: ‘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.’
A Viking spokesman thanked the emergency services, adding: ‘Throughout all this, our first priority was for the safety and well-being of our passengers and our crew.’