Holidaymakers told how they thought they were going to die when their cruise ship started taking on water during a ferocious storm.
Passengers of the Viking Sky spoke to the Channel Five show When Cruises Go Horribly Wrong & Other Travel Nightmares about their hell on the high seas.
The cruise liner had left Tromsø in Norway when it was met by gale-force winds and rough waves in March 2019.
READ MORE: Liverpool comedian Tom O'Connor dies, aged 81
One passenger said she genuinely thought she was going to die and never meet her new grandchild during the horrendous ordeal that first saw furniture sweeping across the deck and ended with everyone in lifejackets and water pouring onto the ship with a real risk it could capsize.
Terrified people told of their terror when the engines cut out due to a loss of oil pressure and the huge liner began drifting towards the sharp rocks off the Norway coast.
There was a Mayday call and all passengers were signalled to the lifeboats as the situation became more and more chaotic.
Lifeboats were turned back as the conditions became too severe to save anyone via the water. At the time the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said waves were 20-26ft high and the wind blew at 24m per second.
Norway sent 14 rescue helicopters as the crew worked relentlessly to gain control and restart the engines while water smashed into the five-year-old ship.
One engine finally began but more than 1,000 holidaymakers were taken to safety via helicopter with police preferring the crew to navigate the chopping waters without the people onboard.
The Viking Sky made it to port in Molde at 4.20pm on March 24, 2019, more than 24 hours after it first got into difficulties.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway opened an investigation into the incident with preliminary reports published in March 2019 stating 'low lubricating oil pressure; was the likely cause for the full shutdown of the engines.
*When Cruises Go Horribly Wrong & Other Travel Nightmares is on Channel Five on Sundays and available on My5
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
