The Viking Line ship Amorella has run aground off Åland. There were a total of 280 people on board the ship and all passengers have now been evacuated.
No one was injured in connection with the incident.
According to Viking Line, the ship grounded in the Åland archipelago at noon on Sunday. There were around 200 passengers on board the ship along with 80 crew members. The majority of the passengers are from Finland and Sweden.
No one has been injured and all passengers have been taken to solid ground in Åland.
”"We are currently investigating the extent of the damage. The ship will be replaced from tomorrow, until further notice, by M/S Gabriella. Affected passengers will be informed," Viking Line writes in a press release.
According to the shipping company's communications director Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, there was never panic on board.
”"The situation is stable and there is no panic," she said before the evacuation was completed.
Do you know what caused the accident?
”"No, we have to investigate that. I don't dare speculate on what it could be. We'll see," says Boijer-Svahnström.
According to the Maritime Rescue Center in Western Finland, there were about ten units on site to evacuate the passengers and some crew members from the Amorella.
The ship, which has run aground, is located in the Järsö archipelago in Föglö.
”"There are no signs of any oil leaks as a result of the grounding. The captain of the Amorella has decided to evacuate all passengers and parts of the crew. The Western Finland Coast Guard has started the evacuation operation," the Maritime Rescue Centre writes, among other things, on Twitter.
Eva Vaihinen, one of the passengers on the boat, tells Expressen that a loud scraping sound was heard when the ship ran aground. But she describes the atmosphere on board as calm.
”"At first it was a bit worrying because the alarm went off. At that time, some people were very scared. But now everyone is calm and waiting. I guess they haven't figured out how big the damage is yet," she tells the newspaper.
Amorella departs daily between the Finnish city of Turku and Stockholm.
Source: TT
