A Manitowoc man and his wife are back home after a harrowing experience recently aboard a cruise ship. Lee and Eileen Kummer were on a planned 12 night cruise on the “Viking Sky” when they became stranded in stormy weather off the cost of Norway, March 23rd. Lee told SeehaferNews.com they were in the ship’s theatre watching a movie when things began to go wrong. Kummer said that there was a lot of turbulence throughout the day, but “at about 2 o’clock, the movie went out, and they came back in to try and start it. At that point the chairs started tipping over, we could hear glass smashing out in the hall, and it was just within a matter of minutes that the alarm sounded.”
Kummer recalled minutes later the crew came in and began distributing life jackets to the 400 or so people in the theatre, saying that after “getting life jackets out for everyone, probably within a half hour or so, the Captain came back on, and said he was remotely closing all the water tight doors.” All 4 of the ship’s engines stopped and they dropped anchor, causing Lee to say “it just seemed surreal. You’re watching ‘The Green Book’ one minute and the next minute you have a life jacket around your neck and the watertight doors are closed. Fortunately…he got one engine going, and was able to direct the ship into the wave.”
Kummer said he booked the trip because Eileen always wanted to see the northern lights and they were able to check that off their bucket list the first Saturday of the trip. Lee told us through it all people on board were genuinely calm during the ordeal. “Talking to some of the senior staffers that were preparing to get us up to the helicopter, they said they couldn’t believe the reaction of the guests on the ship.”
Kummer on the evacuation to shore by helicopter from the ship’s 8th deck in pouring rain about 3:00 o’clock in the morning. He was able to keep a positive attitude and recalls seeing a guy that was waiting on them at dinner the previous night, helping strap people in to be lifted up to the helicopter. He quipped “That’s multitasking.”
We asked Kummer if this deterred him from wanting to take another cruise, and he said that he and Eileen “talked a lot about this, and if we were in a position to take another cruise, I’m not so sure we would want to go up as far as we did.”
Eileen was interviewed by a television reporter once on shore and a brief clip of that made it on the CBS Evening News one night early last week, and Lee said people were “texting and sending e-mails, words of encouragement, and how she looked so brave and strong.”
The local attorney praised those involved in the rescue saying the helicopter crew was great and the coast guard personnel and volunteers on the shoreline provided food and warm clothing for the passengers. He termed it a “remarkable display of humanity.” Kummer added, “there was a lot of praying going on….and I know God answered those prayers.”
