Couple who survived 'nearly Titanic like' cruise ship disaster share text they sent children in panic
A couple who survived what has been dubbed an 'almost Titanic like' close-call on a cruise ship have revealed what was racing through their minds as they careered dangerously close to rocks and water began to gush inside.
Parents Steven and Judith Metcalfe from Australia were some of the 915 passengers who had headed on the trip of a lifetime to see the Northern Lights when the vessel ran into serious trouble off the Norwegian coast on 23 March 2019. Take a look at this:
Their dream holiday quickly turned hellish when the Viking Sky encountered extremely strong winds, rough seas and massive 15-metre tall waves while en route to the city of Stavanger in Norway.
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The captain sent out a chilling distress call explaining that all of the ship's engines had lost power and that the vessel was drifting dangerously close to land.
For Steven and Judith, the thuds from the powerful waves crashing into the cruise ship sounded like 'loud explosions', while they were left staring at an 'angry sea' as they wondered what on earth was going on.
Speaking to 7News Spotlight, Judith explained that she had the alarming realisation that she 'would not have survived' if she ended up in the water - while her husband admitted they were both 'frightened to death'.
The crew dropped anchors and tugboats unsuccessfully tried to attach towlines to the ship, but the volatile waves continued to rock the boat - before smashing through doors and windows.
Passengers told how things 'quickly' took a turn for the worst after a 'wild, choppy' ride earlier that morning, which Judith admitted had left her 'unnerved' as it is.
She was in one of the Viking Sky's cafe's with her partner when the engines initially cut out.
Steven recalled: "I noticed that suddenly there was a loss of power, so the pizza oven lights went out and suddenly a pizza came shooting out of the oven, almost straight at me.
"We didn't realise at that stage that we had lost all four engines, but we were broadside to the swell and that's when we really started to think this is very unusual and there is something going on."
Others on board explained that furniture was flying across the rooms and plates were crashing across the floors, creating 'horrendous' noises which only heightened the fears of passengers as the ship teetered to one side.
One powerful wave managed to smash through the Viking Sky's doors while holidaymakers were hurriedly getting life jackets on and listening to emergency protocols being blasted through speakers.
Steven and Judith then joined hundreds of others in one of the ship's restaurants, while the crew managed to restart one of the liner's engines by the skin of their teeth - stopping it veering into the rocky shore just 100 metres away.
According to retired cruise ship captain, Michael Lloyd, it was very close to being a complete tragedy.
He added: "You could have ended up with a thousand dead. It would be described as being of almost Titanic proportions."
The nod was then given for passengers to abandon ship, while an extensive evacuation mission got underway.
At this point, Steven and Judith were preparing for their turn to get winched up - but decided to send a text message to their children just in case things went awry.
It read: "Houston, we have a problem, so I thought before you see it on the news - we are going to be evacuated from the Viking Sky by helicopter as one engine has stopped and the seas are huge.
"We have two rugs trying to pull us out to sea. We are fine no problems. Just a bit tired and hungry. Hope to be off my morning. Love to all. Wifi will stop as soon as we get off. Talk to you once again once we get to a major."
The couple then recalled how they were told it was their turn to get off the ship at 4.00am in the morning, around 12 hours after the emergency siren first sounded.
Judith explained: "It was 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.
"Then it was one by one they were lining us up, hooking us up and winching you up in no time at all."
A whopping 400 or so passengers were evacuated via emergency helicopter before the weather calmed enough to allow the cruise ship to get towed back into harbour with the remaining people onboard.
A probe was launched by Norway's Accident Investigations Board following the incident in a bid to find out why the cruise ship had set sail despite being warned of 'high risk' conditions and storms.
The Norwegian Maritime Authority concluded that the engine failure had been 'directly caused' by low oil pressure.
It explained in a statement: "The level of lubricating oil in the tanks was within set limits, however relatively low, when the vessel started to cross Hustadvika."
A Viking Cruises spokesperson said they welcomed investigations into the incident at the time.
A statement said: "We welcome the prompt and efficient investigation carried out by the Norwegian Maritime Authority and we fully understand and acknowledge their findings.
"We have inspected the levels on all our sister ships and are now revising our procedures to ensure that this issue could not be repeated.
"We will continue to work with our partners and the regulatory bodies in supporting them with the ongoing investigations."
Topics: Australia, World News, Travel, Cruise Ship, Titanic
Olivia Burke