Just after Midnight, on April 1, the river cruiser Viking Idun collided with a laden chemical tanker, Chemical Marketer, in the Netherlands’ Western Scheldt. The river cruise ship was sailing from the port of Antwerp to Ghent while the tanker was bound for Antwerp. Both ships were damaged above the waterline. No pollution was reported resulting from the collision.
No injuries were reported aboard the tanker but five people on Viking Idun suffered minor injuries, according to emergency services. Four were passengers, all cared for on board by medical staff. One crew member was transferred to a hospital for closer investigation. 117 passengers were aboard at the time of the collision.
Viking Idun is 135 meters (443 feet long.) Viking Cruises says that it hopes to have the ship back in service in time for her next departure on April 4.
The collision took place just over a week after the Viking Sky, operated by the same cruise company, lost power and came extremely close to drifting aground off the Norwegian coast in heavy seas and high winds.
After the recent Viking offshore incident, friends of ours commented that they were glad they were doing a river cruise this year.