REPORT Assessment of the Viking Sky Incident 1 September 2021 Utgitt av: The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) 2020 ISBN: ISBN 978-82-7768-511-3 (PDF) Grafisk produksjon: ETN Grafisk, Skien Assessment of the Viking Sky Incident Summary ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 1.1 Background............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 1.2 Mandate ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 1.3 Interpretation of the mandate ............................................................................................................................................................... 15 1.4 Structure of the assessment report .................................................................................................................................................. 16 2 Method and process ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 17 3 Legal basis and involvement .......................................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Legal basis of the assessment ............................................................................................................................................................... 22 3.2 The actors and their involvement ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 4 Timeline of the incident ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 4.1 Saturday march 23 ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 Sunday march 24 ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 36 4.3 The following days .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 37 5 Prevention and emergency preparedness ...................................................................................................................................... 39 5.1 Overview of risk and vulnerability ................................................................................................................................................. 40 5.2 Emergency planning ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 41 5.3 Emergency preparedness for towing .............................................................................................................................................. 41 5.4 Emergency preparedness for rescue helicopters ................................................................................................................ 42 5.5 Exercises ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 43 6 Managing the incident ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 45 6.1 Alerts ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 46 6.2 Organization ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 48 6.3 Maritime efforts............................................................................. .................................................................................................................... 53 6.4 Helicopter rescue ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 56 6.5 Establishment and operation of the reception center ..................................................................................................... 60 6.6 Managing health-related issues ........................................................................................................................................................ 66 6.7 Coordination, communication and information sharing ............................................................................................. 68 6.8 Handling friends and family, and the media ........................................................................................................................... 78 7 Conclusions and recommendations ....................................................................................................................................................... 81 7.1 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 82 7.2 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 82 7.3 Follow-up ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 86 Sources ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................86 1 Annex ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 89 Annex 1: Legal basis and allocation of responsibility .............................................................................................................. 90 Legal basis .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................90 The actors – allocation of responsibility ..................................................................................................................................................95 Annex 2: Thank you letter .............................................................................................................................................................................. 100 DSB REPORT / AssEssMENT OF THE VIKING SKY INCIDENT 3 SUMMARY On March 23, 2019, the Viking Sky cruise ship suffered A successful rescue operation and handling of those an engine shutdown and had to make an emergency evacuated stop at Hustadvika between Kristiansund and Molde. There is broad consensus that the rescue operation The ship nearly ran aground, which could have had related to the Viking Sky incident was a success, as to catastrophic consequences. A comprehensive rescue both the evacuation of passengers from the cruise ship, operation was carried out, and passengers were and their reception and handling on land. The evacuated by helicopter, which continued until the evacuation took place under extremely demanding morning of the following day. conditions, but there were no accidents or damages. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MoJ) was The assessment confirms the impression of a successful the lead ministry during the incident, and has charged rescue operation, and impressive contributions and the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency effective cooperation between the different actors. This Planning (DSB) with evaluating the management of the can be attributed to Norway's integrated rescue service incident. The assessment covers all aspects of the where coordination, management