“Viking Grace” in the Baltic Sea: ferry ran aground off Finland

A ferry with 429 people on board ran aground in the Baltic Sea off the Finnish archipelago of Åland. According to the shipping company, nobody was injured. The cause of the accident is still unclear.

A Baltic Sea ferry with 429 people on board ran aground between Sweden and Finland. As the Finnish ship owner and the coast guard announced, the ferry “Viking Grace” of the company Viking Line hit a rock on Saturday noon. Nobody was injured.

The accident occurred on the route between the Finnish Turku and the Swedish capital Stockholm shortly before a stopover in Mariehamn on the Aland Islands.

No danger to passengers

The cause of the accident is still unclear, but the wind blows, the coast guard said on Twitter. There is no danger for the passengers, nobody was injured. According to a spokeswoman for Viking Line, there were 331 passengers and 98 crew members on the ship at the time of the accident. Everyone had to spend the night on board. They were housed in cabins and had meals, the spokeswoman said.

The ship’s situation is stable. During the day, passengers are told which ship they can take to Sweden or Finland.

Divers examine the hull

Because of a storm warning, the company used the “Viking Grace” instead of a smaller, less robust ship. Meanwhile, divers examined the hull to see how the ferry could be restarted.

In September another Viking Line ferry, the “Amorella”, also ran aground on the autonomous Finnish Aland archipelago. At that time the passengers had to be brought to safety.