Police in the western More og Romsdal county were alerted to a distress signal in the same area where a large-scale operation was underway to airlift cruise passengers to safety, the TV2 news channel said. The crew of nine are waiting to be rescued.
Update: Cargo ship "Hagland Captain" had stayed around if more assistance needed for cruise ship, but then had a technical problem of her own. One helicopter dispatched to rescue the 9 crew. pic:NRK pic.twitter.com/TnBHejHl73
— Daniel Wilson 🇫🇮 🇪🇺 (@danielw_rosala) March 23, 2019
"Hagland Captain" tilted. Police; we have to prioritize this now (but not at the expense of security, passengers and crew #Vikingsky).Two anchors out. Surrounded by tug boats atm 'just in case'
— S.Hava (@Air_4U) March 23, 2019
Update, latest count — rescued: 120 (15 min's ago)
Wind: 20m/sec pic.twitter.com/kaAewgMCof
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The rescue operation was expected to continue through the night. Choppy waters prevent ships from coming near the cruise liner, while helicopters can only carry up to 15 people. They were being hoisted from the deck and lifted to helicopters one by one.