479 Cruise Passengers Airlifted to Safety After Mayday as 'Chaos' Aboard Ship Goes Viral Online

Update: The Viking Sky safely returned to port in Molde, Norway, on Sunday afternoon. All passengers have disembarked and are on their way home, according to Reuters. Torstein Hagen the billionaire founder of Viking was reportedly on site to meet many of those who had been airlifted from the boat by a helicopter in a daring rescue.

He told TV2 that, “They’ve had a bit of a shocking experience,” noting “Most of our passengers are senior citizens…imagine what it’s like to hang their on that wire. It must have been a terrible experience but they seem to have handled it very well.” He also stated, “We all want to know how this could have happened. I’m sure there will be plenty of time to point fingers at what could and should have been done, but that’s for later. Something like this shouldn’t happen, but it has.”

The Viking Sky cruise ship forced to evacuate nearly one-third of its passengers after it suffered engine problems amid stormy weather was safely headed back to shore Sunday, as those who left the vessel recalled the frightening ordeal.

The cruise ship sent out a distress signal Saturday after it experienced a “loss of engine power off the coast of Norway near Molde” with 915 guests and 458 crew on board, a Viking spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.

But as of 10 a.m. local time Sunday, the ship was safely traveling to Molde under its own power.

“The ship is being accompanied by two offshore supply ships and one tug assist vessel. The evacuation of passengers has ended and there are currently 436 guests and 458 crew onboard,” the spokesperson said. “The 479 passengers who were airlifted from the vessel are currently on shore and arrangements have been made to fly them home, with the first passengers leaving today. Currently we understand 20 people have suffered injuries as a result of this incident, and they are all receiving care at the relevant medical centers in Norway, with some already having been discharged.”

RELATED: Viking Cruise Ship Begins Evacuating 1,300 Passengers by Helicopter After Sending Mayday in Storm

The Associated Press reported that authorities told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that the inclement weather was interfering with rescue efforts, as it prevented workers from using lifeboats as rescue vehicles.

Passengers on the ship chronicled the harrowing ordeal on social media, first capturing the damage done by the weather to the vessel, and later evacuations via helicopter.

Passenger Ryan Flynn shared video to Twitter of a crowd of passengers wearing life jackets as water flooded the ground beneath them.

He later shared footage of his 83-year-old father being airlifted off the ship and into a rescue helicopter.

RELATED: Cruise Passengers Injured After ‘Extreme Gust of Wind’ Causes Ship to Tilt Sideways

Passenger David Hernandez also tracked the rescue on Twitter, praising the crew for ensuring passengers remained calm.

“Still on board #VikingSky 15 hours on. Awaiting evacuation. Crew has been fantastic keeping everyone calm and fed. Seas are still rough with winds of 40 knots,” he wrote.

Hernandez said he was eventually evacuated off the boat and received help from the Red Cross.

“It was just chaos,” passenger John Curry told NRK, according to the Guardian. “The helicopter ride from the ship to shore I would rather not think about. It wasn’t nice.”

Passengers Derek and Esther Browne also opened up about their experience, telling BBC Radio 5 Live it was “frightening.”

“We had a few people on stretchers, several with cuts, two with broken limbs, but fortunately we were all right. We were airlifted on to the helicopter, which was quite a frightening experience,” Derek said, according to The Telegraph. “I’d never been in a helicopter before, there were a lot of high winds.”’

RELATED VIDEO: Cruise Ship Battered by Rough Waters Due to Hurricane Michael

The outlet reports the rescue operation included four helicopters and several vessels, and that 60 volunteers from the Norwegian Red Cross took part.

American passenger Rodney Horgen explained that being rescued by the helicopter was like being brought to safety by an “angel” — but that the one-by-one evacuation process made it difficult to accept help.

“The worst thing I could say for me was walking to get in line for the helicopter,” Horgen told NRK, according to NBC News. “You had to walk past a lot of people and their faces. That was hard — I did not want to go.”

According to cruisemapper.com, the Viking Sky was in the middle of a 12-day trip. The ship departed from Bergen, Norway on March 14 and was expected to dock at a London port on March 26.

“Throughout all of this, our first priority was for the safety and wellbeing of our passengers and our crew,” a spokesperson for Viking said in a statement. “We would like to thank the Norwegian Redningssentral and the Norwegian emergency services for their support and skill displayed in managing the situation in very challenging weather conditions. We would also like to thank the local residents who throughout the whole process have been extremely supportive and hospitable.”