Police will investigate Viking Sky incident, 9 in hospital
The Norwegian Accident Investigation Board together with the police boarded Viking Sky on Monday to start investigating the casualty. Nine passengers are still in the hospital.
Almost two days after Viking Sky experienced engine trouble at Hustadvika in Fræna municipality southwest of Kristiansund, nine of the 915 passengers who were on board are still hospitalised. One of them, a woman in her nineties, is admitted to Kristiansund hospital with a serious fracture. Her condition is stable, NTB is informed by Health Møre & Romsdal.
A total of 28 persons have received treatment at the hospitals in Molde and Kristiansund.
The police in Møre og Romsdal has established an investigation case after the cruise ship accident involving Viking Sky.
“We have no suspicion that a criminal offence has been committed. The Criminal Procedure Act provides for an investigation when it is regarding an accident. Here there was a great damage potential. We have, therefore, chosen to look at this, ” Police Inspector of Møre og Romsdal Police District, Yngve Skovly, explains.
They want to question key personnel on the ship and want experts on board to find out why it experienced engine failure.
“The officers are absolutely central and perhaps those responsible down in the engine room,” the Police Inspector tells NTB. He adds that they will also talk to the pilots who were on board.
Accident Investigation Board
The maritime department of the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board was in Molde on Monday to find out what went wrong when the engine of Viking Sky shutdown.
“The Norwegian Sea Act basically states that we first have to do investigations if a vessel has gone down or where persons die, but the threshold is lower when it comes to passenger ships. The high risk that ships, passengers and crew were exposed to, meant that we decided to start investigations,” Department Director of the Accident Investigation Board, Dag Sverre Liseth, tells Bergens Tidende.
Liseth says that the American Accident Investigation Board (NTSB) has signed up to participate in the investigations.
“There were a large number of Americans on board the Viking Sky. It is the case that affected countries have the opportunity to participate in the work when one has had citizens on board the vessel who are exposed to an accident,” he continues.
Going through audio recordings
The cruise ship carries passengers from many countries, and several states may report interest in participating.
“We leave for Molde with three persons today. We will gather everything that is provided by electronic information from the ship. On the bridge is a voyage data recorder (VDR) that will give us insight into what happened there, ” Department Director Liseth informs.
The Commission will also review other audio information from the ship, including from the engine room.
“Here, for example, there are a lot of alarms and logs to be reviewed. We will work with the police on the investigations. For our part, this standard review is followed by a full report on the incident,” Liseth concludes.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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