Viking-Star

On Oct 27, 2025, a crew member of the 'Viking Star' on a cruise in the Mediterranean, carrying 925 passengers and 471 crew members, went over board approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of Calabria on Oct 27, 2025. He was seen going overboard from deck 2 on the 'Viking Star' at 11:31 a.m. CET. As per maritime protocol, the ship immediately initiated its emergency response and began a search operation with the Italian Coast Guard. The 7-night cruise departed from Athens on Oct 23, 2025. Roughly halfway through the weeklong journey, a "Code Oscar" announcement startled passengers over the public address system. Another crew member was seen tossing a bright orange life preserver into the ocean before lowering a smaller life ring with an attached flare. The 'Viking Star' began maneuvering in a circular pattern near the location of the incident, consistent with standard overboard search procedures. The ship was en route to Palermo and has since been rerouted to Messina, with the Italian Coast Guard releasing the ship from its search efforts around 6:00 p.m. The 'Viking Star' arrived in Messina on Oct 28 at around 7:00 a.m. No further changes to the itinerary have been announced. The ship was to call at Naples on Oct. 29, followed by Civitavecchia for debarkation on Oct 30.

The 'Viking Star' skipped its scheduled call at Santorini on Feb 10, 2025, with around 900 cruise passengers on board instead the ship headed to the port of the city of Chania because of the ongoing earthquakes that continued to shake Santorini. Normally the "Viking Star" would have been the ship that opened this year's cruise season for the island, where a record was set in Aug 2024 with more than 15,500 people during one day. Due to the high number, the island community planned to enforce a limit of 8,000 cruise tourists per day. But now it could be that no cruise ships will be arriving for the time being, because the earth is still shaking several times an hour and with peaks of magnitude 5. Seismologists and geologists cannot predict when and how the phenomenon will end. This week, schools on Santorini and the neighboring islands of Ios, Anafi and Amorgos will remain closed following a government decision. Most of the population - especially women, children and the elderly - have left the island and sought safety on the mainland.

The ferry "Fantastic" got out of control while unmooring in Barcelona Port in the afternoon of Jan 12, 2018, around 2 p.m. and drifted towards the cruise terminal B where the "Viking Star" was berthed. The ferry struck the cruise ship’s portside by her stern, she wasn’t able to prevent collision even by dropping anchor or both anchors. The "Fantastic" was taken back to its berth, both ships were investigated but had avoided serious damage. The "Fantastic" resumed her voyage at 5.30 p.m., bound for Genova. The "Viking Star" left Barcelona at 6 p.m., headed to Marseille. Videos: https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/951833872886575105 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=67&v=CsUfR26-uTo

Video: www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=67&v=CsUfR26-uTo