UK traveler saw massive wave hit Norwegian cruise ship carrying 229 passengers before being ordered to hunker down for hours: ‘It just exploded’
A British traveler saw a massive wave hit her Norwegian cruise ship minutes before all 299 passengers were ordered to hunker down in muster stations for hours as the boat battled 11-meter waves and gale-force winds.
Catriona MacRae, 43, and father, Ken, 79, were traveling through rough seas on the MS Maud when a tall, powerful wave came crashing down on the vessel.
“The wave essentially hit us side-on and just exploded up over the top of the ship,” MacRae told The Post Friday. “Other passengers reported that the officer who hit the emergency alert was completely soaked.
“Up until that point it was just a big ocean with big waves, as you’d expect in any storm. I think it would be fair to say that everyone was feeling pretty scared.”
Passengers had been told a few days beforehand that there was a “storm brewing in the North Sea and that we were going to try to get back to the UK ahead of it.”
The ship, owned by Hurtigruten Expeditions, had even left port early and skipped several stops to try and stay ahead of the storm. But they were in the middle of the North Sea when heart-stopping wave came crashing down around 4 p.m. Thursday, causing windows on the bridge to shatter.
After the wave hit, passengers heard around five seconds of noise over the PA system and roughly five minutes later, the emergency alarm was sounded and passengers began making their way down to muster stations. They were told to put on bright orange survival suits, which are wind and waterproof, and life vests.
The stations are located on decks five to eight, which are above sea level and near the lifeboats on level seven.
“The crew handed out life suits and vests as we arrived at muster stations and helped people who weren’t able to put theirs on. It was actually eerily quiet and calm throughout,” MacRae said. “People were obviously scared, but remarkably calm.”
In addition, Danish rescue boats were on their way to the ship and arrived within 40 minutes of the mayday call.
All the while, the boat had lost electricity mid-voyage and had no navigation capabilities for several hours. Crew members had to “manually steer the boat from the engine room” MacRae wrote on Facebook.
“The captain came on immediately to let us know what had happened, that the boat was stable, we had coast guard support and that the chances of needing to evacuate were minimal,” she told The Post of the moment the ship regained power.
The boat has now been diverted to Bremerhaven, Germany, and was around 230 nautical miles out as of 10 a.m. local time. As of 5 p.m. EST, the boat is passing by Denmark at eight knots and facing 14.5 mph winds.
MacRae said the cruise line would be providing flights to London — where it was originally supposed to end its journey. As for further compensation, MacRae said they haven’t been told of any.
Passengers were eventually allowed to go back to their cabins, where they’ve been asked to stay until the storm calmed. Since then, they’ve been given the greenlight to “carefully” move around the vessel.
“The storm has settled and the swell. Waves and wind have calmed down so much,” MacRae said.
Passengers are “anxious to get to port” and injuries were “minimal,” the British woman said.
Despite the strenuous ordeal, MacRae said this won’t stop her from sailing, and that she’s thankful for the crew.
“Honestly I had never planned this one – it was mainly to accompany my dad!” she said. “I’m booked on a small vessel cruise to Svalbard in June with no plans to cancel so I wouldn’t say it’s put me off sailing!
“[The crew] were all incredible and I know all the guests I’ve spoken to are so grateful to all of them,” she continued. “I really just want to say that I think the calmness and professionalism of the crew on board, from the officers down to the cleaning staff who were helping guests get into survival gear, was incredible. They undoubtedly kept all the guests as safe.”
As for Ken, his daughter believes this was his last cruise to begin with, “but he doesn’t seem to be put off!”
