The Baltic Sea-deployed cruiseferry Viking Grace (carrying 331 passengers and 98 crew) ran aground in heavy storm winds on Saturday, November 21, in the Aland archipelago between Finland and Sweden.
According to Finnish authorities, there were “no lives in immediate danger” and the Viking Line ship, inspected by divers, was not leaking.
The Finnish coast guard tweeted that the ferry that runs between Port Turku Finland and Stockholm Sweden hit the ground just off Port Mariehamn, Aland's capital. A photo showed the Viking Grace ferry stuck just offshore.
The passengers had to stay overnight on the ship before getting evacuated to shore on Sunday, November 22.
MS Viking Grace was en route from Stockholm to Turku with a scheduled call at Mariehamn. Strong storm winds prevailed in the region at the time.
According to coast guard officials, the 2,800-passenger Viking Grace was close to the shore when for some reason the ferry seemed to have floated toward land. Viking Line CEO Jan Hanses said that a strong gust of wind had likely “pushed the ship to shore” in the narrow passage near Port Mariehamn.
For other incidents and accidents on cruiseferries see CruiseMapper's Cruise Minus hub.