A rogue wave and high winds combined to briefly knock out power and the navigation system on a luxury Norwegian cruise Thursday, Danish authorities and the ship’s owner said.
Authorities’ update comes as stomach-churning footage of massive waves battering the vessel in the North Sea have gone viral, including a clip of the rogue wave that reportedly shattered windows and knocked out power aboard the MS Maud.
“There is no power on the ship,” a spokesperson for the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Center told Reuters on Friday. “The main engine is functioning but the navigation systems and radars are not.”
Despite the chilling footage, the cruise company HX, a unit of Norway’s Hurtigruten Group, said in a statement that each of the ship’s 266 passengers and 131 crew members were physically unharmed—though some are sure to be sea sick.
One terrified passenger told the Daily Mail they instantly knew something was off once the massive wave rattled the ship.
“As soon as the wave struck, the TV screen went blank and the ship’s horn distress signal sounded,” the passenger said, adding that passengers, tables, and chairs went sliding around the ship as it was battered by waves.
The rogue wave reached the MS Maud as it sailed about 120 miles off Denmark’s west coast, said the Hurtigruten Group. It was headed to Tilbury, in England’s southeast, after departing from Floroe, Norway’s westernmost town.
A description of the MS Maud on the Hurtigruten Group’s website says the vessel is “well-suited for expedition cruising,” with publicly available rates showing cruises that feature stops in Floroe and Tilbury cost multiple thousands of dollars at a minimum.
A tow vessel was dispatched to tug the damaged boat back to a port in Germany. In the meantime, the company said the ship was being being steered manually from the engine room but cannot navigate.
