Bulgarian Border Police have completed the evacuation of all 186 passengers from the Viking River Cruises' Longship Viking Ullur after the vessel ran aground on the Danube near Vidin (Bulgaria).
The ship became stranded early on Tuesday/July 28th, at river kilometre 817, opposite the village of Gomotartsi and ~25 km/16 mi upstream from Vidin (live AIS tracking).
Authorities reported that the grounding was caused by low water levels.
At the time of the incident, Viking Ullur was carrying 186 passengers from European Union member states and a crew of 52.
Viking's Longship-class boat had been scheduled to replenish food and drinking water supplies in Vidin but was unable to reach the port after running aground off the village of Gomotartsi.
As supplies on board became depleted, the ship's local agent arranged for CroisiEurope's riverboat Vivaldi to transfer the passengers. However, Vivaldi failed to approach close enough to Viking Ullur, forcing Bulgarian Border Police to organise the evacuation.
Following authorisation from the River Supervision Directorate in Lom and an assessment of the situation, Border Police deployed a patrol boat from Vidin to evacuate all passengers ashore.
The transfer of passengers' luggage was continuing on Tuesday.
Authorities indicated that the future of the 52 crew members remained uncertain, as Viking Ullur could remain aground for an extended period depending on river conditions and the success of future refloating operations.
Initial reports had placed the ship near Salcia in Romania's Mehedinți County. The ship had departed Drobeta-Turnu Severin on Monday evening bound for Vidin.
Multiple attempts to refloat the vessel on Monday night and again on Tuesday morning were unsuccessful, and the ship remained stranded while authorities assessed further recovery options.
The accident occurred during the 10-night "Passage to Eastern Europe Cruise" (itinerary July 28-Aust 7, from Bucharest to Budapest), that was scheduled to visit Bucharest (Jul 28-29/overnight, Bucharest-Giurgiu bus transfer for embarkation), Rousse (Jul 30), Vidin (Jul 31), Golubac (Aug 1), Belgrade (Aug 2), Novi Sad (Aug 3), Osijek (Aug 4), Kalocsa (Aug 5), and Budapest (Aug 6-7/overnight, debarkation).