The Viking Sky cruise disaster: True terror on board

For the 1,370 passengers on board the Viking Sky, their holiday quickly turned to hell. The ship’s engines died and holidaymakers had to be rescued by helicopter. But cruise industry insiders say the disaster could have been much worse.

This story originally aired on the 31st March 2019.

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oh the big one big one big one may mayday mayday this is the Viking SK mayday mayday mayday this is the Vikings guy you okay I have 1300 passengers and crew on board pitching violently at the height of a ferocious North Sea Gale my engine has lost power we are 100 m from Rock a frantic distress call from the captain of the massive cruise liner Viking sky as it found us perilously close to shore this is is the Viking Sky we have injured and disabled passengers it’s like loud explosions um like bombs going off really loud bombs M M M we saw an angry seat it was rough it was gray there was White Water I wouldn’t have survived in there tonight terrifying firsthand accounts from Australians aboard the stricken Viking [Music] Sky frightened to death there was certainly quite a lot of screaming they presumed they’d be safe but their dream Crews almost cost them their lives are you surprised that lives weren’t lost very very it was too close and this near tragedy has highlighted the failure of basic safety procedures aboard these floating cities we are taking on water as we’ll discover it’s only a matter of time before there’s a major disaster at Sea one as dramatic and terrible as the sinking of the Titanic so how bad could it have got you could have ended up with a thousand dead for Sunshine cast couple Steven and Judith meta it was supposed to be a trip to help them heal Steven had lost his sister the previous month and a cruise to see the Northern Lights was on their bucket list and youth you got to see the lights we saw the lights we had one night of seeing the lights mhm were they amazing yes it was although to me they I didn’t see color I saw them as white whereas other people saw them as green yeah I saw them as green and they stretched right across the Horizon 4 to 500 M from grounding and catastrophe gosh which was John and Jan Porter from Sydney’s Northern beaches are Cruise veterans but this was their first trip to Norway what was the scenery like we going through the fields oh amazing amazing but the Waters of Norway can also be breathtakingly dangerous the swir started doing great Saturday morning and uh very windy we also had a lot of um Frozen rain and and ha really going up and climbing the waves and going back down so uh it was very very wild choppy weather was it enough to worry you I didn’t like it I didn’t like it I thought oh if this is bad as it gets that’ll be okay but um it was just a little unnerving because it was getting bad quite quickly and it got worse yes it got a lot worse by lunchtime with the ship listing perilously the engine suddenly cut out we’re in the um Cafe and I noticed that suddenly there was a loss of power so the pizza Ren lights went out and suddenly a pizza came shooting out of the oven almost straight at me the windows are open don’t fall out didn’t realize at that stage that we lost all four engins but we were broadside to the so and that’s when we really really started to think this is very unusual it’s something going [Music] WR then people start panicking then going yeah I was very frightened we were on level seven and Furniture started moving around plates were dropping be careful that windows open all the bottles were falling the noise this was horrendous uh one lady was injured an American lady and it was quite traumatic they thought they were going to lose their lives there was a very large body of water which was sloshing backwards and forwards with the rolling of the ship and eventually uh smashed that door in and you got the meter of water coming in and flooding that restaurant 67 663 so a lot of people were submerged and there’s nothing to hang on to uh you don’t have any control and you’re very entitled to be very very frightened so all of a sudden that safety drill that drill you did with the side of the yes that siren you’re hearing it for real for real we thought oh my gosh this is it this is [Music] real at seven means we’re supposed to get to emergency [Music] stations Steven and Judith were issued with life jackets and joined hundreds of others in one of the ship’s restaurants first water came first through that door took some people our what none of the passengers knew at the time was that the Viking sky was wallowing in just 10 MERS of water the crew dropped an anchor and eventually restarted one of the ship’s engines it was enough to stop it crashing onto the rocky Shore how close were you to the islands CH to the Rocks one report said 100 m m but whatever it is it was too close too close so how bad could it have got you could have ended up with a thousand dead on a scale of Maritime disasters where would that sit it it would be described as being of Titanic almost proportions retired Cruise Captain Michael Lloyd says it’s nothing short of a miracle there was no loss of life worst case scenario anchor not holding blown onto the [Music] Rocks then you would have had a lot of dead people she could have been on the Rocks within about 20 minutes you wouldn’t have got many people off the elderly wouldn’t have been had much of a chance on board and also you got to think of hypothermia the water there is is bloody cold uh I think you’ve got some in the region of about 15 minutes 20 minutes in the water would it be fair to say these passengers were very lucky yes yes yes oh luck always need a bit of luck you know in any emergency unsure just how long the anchor and one working engine could hold the captain gave the command to Abandoned [Music] Ship same station it was an incredibly slow process there were just five helicopters for the 13 100 plus [Music] passengers as Steven and Judith huddled together they texted their children back home what did you tell them Houston we have a problem so I thought before you see it on the neares we going to be evacuated from the Viking Sky by helicopter as one engine has stopped and the seas are huge eventually 12 hours after the emergency siren first sounded Steven and Judith were ushered to the top deck describe the scene for me 4:00 in the morning pitch black all you could hear was the helicopter it was very noisy it was windy the boat was rocking more because we were on the very top uh and then it was one by one they were lining us up and went hooking us up and winching you up in no time at all must been important to you that you’re winched up together as well separately that’s right yes yes yes because we didn’t realize they were doing to it we were deciding who’s going up first but we weren’t going to separate and go on different go first you I was yeah so it was a surprise and they said well you’re going up in twos and I thought oh golly that’s a lot of weight it’s now 4:30 a.m. still waiting to get up on the helicopter to get out the cruise industry is booming but Maritime experts warn that while the ships are getting bigger and more plentiful their staff aren’t experienced enough to handle crisis situations we’re okay we’re good so far we’re good they believe it’s only a matter of time before a liner goes down many you saw that film Poseidon and everyone say oh that could never happen you look at some of the sizes of these ships today they’re by entertainment companies really not not shipping companies and they are on very strict shedules and there’s so much money involved right that captains are possibly induced more into sailing today than they were in the past it’s big business very big business very big money are you surprised that lives weren’t lost very very almost 500 passengers were airlifted from the Viking sky before A Lull in the weather allowed the ship to be towed back to Port for John and Jan saw you on the boat it’s quite A Tale To Tell the grandkids was it scary well that’s a great question very scary I’m not the bravest monkey in the jungle what would have happened if you fell in the ocean oh I would have drowned darling I could not have saved in that big Angry sea you two have been through quite an experience together yes how’s that affected you as a couple in 50 years you have ups and downs in life and you cope you cope uh as I say he promised me everything including a helicopter ride in the north yes so no complaints meanwhile Judith is celebrating her 60th birthday cheers cheers happy birthday we did we made it we Sur did it we survived the Vikings it’s a milestone she wasn’t always sure she’d get to see so if we’re in the pub in 10 years time how would you describe this experience oh the most amazing life experience I think our children are stunned that we yes managed the winching up by the helicopter that’s exactly right yeah and I think we look back on it and say you know wow that was exciting