Passengers were being hoisted one by one by helicopters from a stranded cruise ship on Saturday after strong winds started pushing the ship toward the Norwegian coast, local law officials said.

The Viking Sky ship issued a mayday call off the western Hustadvika coast at about 2 p.m. local time, Norwegian search and rescue officials said, after the ship started having engine trouble.



A total of 1,373 people were on board the ship, Viking Cruise officials told BuzzFeed News, including 915 guests and 458 crew.

Viking Cruise officials said a “small number of non-life threatening injuries have been reported” on the ship.

“Our first priority was for the safety and wellbeing of our passengers and our crew, and in close cooperation with the Norwegian Coast Guard, the captain decided to evacuate all guests from the vessel by helicopter,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.