LONDON: A Norwegian ship was being evacuated after the vessel sent Mayday off notorious Hustadvika, western Norway on Sunday.
Former South African cricket captain Grame Smith said his parents were on board the ship and asked for information about their safety.
According to reports, Norwegian cruise ship Viking Sky with about 300 people on board sent the MAYDAY apparently after its engines stopped functioning.
Helicopters were shuttling evacuated passengers to shore 10-15 per trip from Norwegian cruise liner which was caught in 8-9 meterswaves in high seas.
Grame Smith apparently came to know about the incident through a Twitter account which was posting the updates on the rescue operation.
When another person showed concern over safety of their sisters on board the ship, the Twitter account reassured them that “your sister will be fine, all seems to be under control”.
The former South African captain, however, received no response
According to latest reports, The vessel has been able to restart one of the engines and is now anchored two kilometres from land. But there were still hundreds of people still to be evacuated.
Grame Smith also retweeted a Twitter post criticizing Viking Cruises for “zero communication” and “no emergency plan”.