VIKING SKY

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Report: Inadequate training contributed to ship accident

The National Accident Investigation Board has made 14 safety recommendations after the accident with the 'Viking Sky' on March 19, 2029, when it lost engine power at Hustadvika in Møre og Romsdal, and believed the cruise ship should never have left the dock. It was estimated that the ship was only about a ship's length away from hitting the ground, and with 1,374 people on board, the accident had the potential to become one of the worst disasters at sea in modern times, the Accident Investigation Board wrote in its report. A disaster alarm was sounded and a massive rescue operation was launched to evacuate passengers from the 'Viking Sky'. During the long and dramatic rescue operation, more than 400 passengers were hoisted and transported to shore by rescue helicopter. The accident was due to low oil levels in all the operating diesel generators' lubricating oil tanks, in combination with pounding and rolling in high seas. The investigation has revealed operational, technical and organizational security problems which in various ways contributed to the blackout. The direct cause of the vessel's engines stopping was low oil pressure, the Norwegian Maritime Directorate stated a few days after the accident. Due to the low level of the tanks, combined with the heavy storm, the oil on the tanks sloshed so much that air was eventually sucked in. The result was that the engines were not supplied with lubricating oil and stopped. Recovery from the blackout was time-consuming, and it took 39 minutes to get both propulsion engines operating so that the ship had enough power to maintain a speed of between 1 and 5 knots. Blackout exercises had previously been carried out on board, but never based on a full blackout without a stand-by generator available. The engineers were therefore faced with a situation they had not trained to handle. The situation was stressful, the control system was complex, and there was a need to perform certain actions in a given order. Inadequate training probably contributed to the recovery being time-consuming, the Accident Investigation Board stated in its report from March 19, 2024: https://havarikommisjonen.no/Sjofart/Avgitte-rapporter/2024-05

Preliminary report in near grounding published

Norway’s Accident Investigation Board on Nov 13 released a preliminary report on the near-grounding of the 'Viking Sky'. It reveals that a total of 18 alarms about low lubricating oil levels sounded on board the vessel several hours before “a complete blackout” left the ship at the mercy of stormy seas, with a total of 1,373 people on board. The report from the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board noted that the stricken cruise ship was “within a ship’s length” of grounding on rocks in a “notoriously dangerous area” off Norway’s northwest coast. The situation was extremely dramatic,” William J Bertheussen, director of the Accident Investigation Board said. Bertheussen staated that he and his staff are particularly interested in the “low volume” alarms registered by the operational diesel generators that supplied the 'Viking Sky'’s electricity. They went off between 4 a.m. and 9:04 a.m. on the morning of March 23. Each of the alarms was cleared within seconds after being accepted by the crew. “No more alarms were registered,” reads the report, until 1:37 p.m., when another diesel generator signaled low lubricating oil pressure. Then another generator registered the same and five minutes later two generators shut down, “causing a complete blackout and loss of propulsion.” By that time, the 'Viking Sky' was sailing through stormy seas in what the board’s report notes was the “notoriously dangerous area” called Hustadvika. When the crew in the engine room couldn’t estimate when power could be restored, the captain was summoned to the bridge and he sent out a mayday call at 2pm. He also ordered the crew to drop both anchors but they didn’t hold, leaving the vessel dangerously adrift. A general alarm was issued 13 minutes later, “and the passengers and crew began to muster,” leading to a massive rescue operation. The investigators intended to study the earlier alarms more closely. The new report showed that lubricating oil levels were measured at between 28- and 40 percent of capacity. Recommended levels for a vessel like the 'Viking Sky' are 68- to 75 percent of capacity. Since the oil levels were so low, and the vessel rolled from side to side, three diesel generators failed within 20 minutes and the vessel lost power. It’s not unusual for many alarms to sound during controls of an engine room, where a technician was already on board to service a failed turbocharger on one of the larger generators. It was to be replaced at the vessel’s next port. The board already was recommending that all vessels “fill up on lubricating oil, especially in bad weather.” They will also continue to probe systems for alarm management in the engine room, route planning especially in bad weather, evacuation and safety procedures, and systems for safe return to port. The board said the investigation would continue “as swiftly as possible” and, once complete, a report will be drafted and distributed to “key stakeholders” for a 30-day comment period prior to being published.

Viking Sky to set sail to Copenhagen

After the damages have been rectified in Kristiansund, the "Viking Sky" started towards Copenhagen on Apr 3 at 3.40 p.m. with an ETA as of Apr 5, 10 a.m., to return into regular operation. The Norwegian Maritime Directorate went on board the ship in order to check with the classification company whether the damage to the ship has been rectified. It was expected that the classification society would approve the ship for further navigation. The ship had suffered damage to some windows, a lifeboat and the anchor. The damage has now been repaired either by replacement or by temporary repair. This applied for example to the windows where there is a long delivery time for new ones. Both the shipping company and the classification company have a great focus on the follow-up in relation to the engine breakdwon that created the critical situation. The ship sailed from Copenhagen on April 7 and arrived in Oslo on April 9.