Fifteen Canadians were among the roughly 900 passengers and crew who were rescued from a cruise ship stranded in the Norwegian Sea, with one of the Canadians injured in the ordeal.
“Global Affairs Canada is closely monitoring the situation off the coast of Norway and is aware of 15 Canadian citizens that were on board at the time of the incident,” a spokesperson for Global Affairs told Global News.
“Canadian officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to a Canadian citizen who has been injured.”
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Global Affairs didn’t elaborate on the extent of the person’s injuries.
Information about the ages and identities of the Canadians was not immediately available.
Rescue services airlifted 479 people from the Viking Sky before the weather subsided and the ship was eventually towed to the port of Molde on Norway’s west coast.
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A total of 1,373 people had started the voyage and about 900 people were still on board as the ship arrived at the port of Molde on Norway’s west coast.
The 915 passengers were mainly from the United States and Britain, the rescue services said.
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“It was very nearly a disaster. The ship drifted to within 100 metres of running aground before they were able to restart one of the engines,” police chief Hans Vik, who heads the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told TV2.
“If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster.”
A spokesperson for Viking Cruises said passengers would begin flying home Sunday evening.
— With files from Reuters