UH OH: Cruise ship off Norway issues mayday, begins evacuating 1,300 passengers and crew. “Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said the Viking Sky’s evacuation was likely to be a slow and dangerous process, as passengers needed to be hoisted from the cruise ship to the five available helicopters one by one, according to The Associated Press. By 6 p.m. local time, some 100 people had been rescued. Authorities told NRK that a strong storm with high waves was preventing rescue workers from using life boats or other vessels in taking passengers ashore.”

UPDATE: The Latest: 2nd ship needs rescue off Norway’s western coast. “Norwegian rescue authorities say a freighter has experienced an engine seizure in the same stormy Hustadsvika Bay region off western Norway where hundreds of people are being winched off by helicopter from the ailing Viking Sky cruise ship. Authorities say they have had to divert two of the five helicopters rescuing 1,300 passengers and crew from the cruise ship to help the Hagland Captain cargo vessel’s crew of nine in the storm. Both boats are trying to avoid being dashed on the rocky coast.” That’s not good.