Finnish passenger cruise ship runs aground in Baltic Sea

Monday, September 21, 2020

A passenger cruise ship from Finland ran aground off the island of Aland in the Baltic Sea with emergency services saying they were preparing to evacuate nearly 300 people on the vessel.

The ship was headed towards Stockholm from Turku in Finland and ran aground about 12:50am local time on Sunday outside the city of Mariehamn on the autonomous Finnish island of Aland near the Swedish coast.

Viking Line Scandinavia told to the news media that there are no personal injuries and no one’s life is in danger, and the situation aboard is stable. The ship, Amorella, is 169 metres (555 feet) long and does daily trips between Stockholm and Turku.

Normally, this cruise carries between 1,800 and 2,000 passengers, but because of the pandemic the number was heavily reduced, Hansi said.

There are about 200 passengers and about 80 crew members on board.

Local media reported passengers had gathered on deck and were wearing life jackets.

The Amorella also ran aground in the same area in 2013, according to Finnish and Swedish media reports.

Amorella stands firmly on the bottom. The 281 people on board are in not in immediate danger but the captain has decided that all extra people be evacuated from the ship,” the West Finland Coast Guard said.

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