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STOCKHOLM: A passenger ferry ran aground on Saturday (November 21) next to the islands between Sweden and Finland, leaving nearly 430 passengers and crew stranded overnight, the Finnish owner and the coast guard said.
The Viking Line “Grace”, which sails between the Finnish port of Turku and the Swedish capital Stockholm, hit rocks at around 2:15 PM (8:15 PM Singapore time) shortly before a stopover in Mariehamn, in the Aland Archipelago, the Finnish coast guard said.
He said the cause of the accident was not immediately known, but there were strong winds in the region.
“There is no water leak and no immediate threat” to passengers, the coast guard said on Twitter.
There were 331 passengers and 98 crew aboard the ship, a Viking Line spokeswoman told AFP.
“Passengers will have to spend the night on board and disembark (on Sunday),” the spokeswoman said.
“The ship’s situation is stable. On Sunday we will tell the passengers which ship they can take to return to Sweden and Finland.”
Divers were inspecting the hull to determine how to get the boat back into operation.
“The situation on board is calm and dinner is being served,” the company told AFP around 1700 GMT.
Due to a storm warning, the company said it had decided to use the “Grace” instead of a smaller, less rugged boat.
In September, another Viking Line ferry, the Amorella, ran aground in the Aland archipelago itself and the passengers had to be evacuated.
