Nearly 400 people have been airlifted from a cruise liner adrift off the coast of Norway, as RTÉ News reports.

More than 1,300 passengers and crew were on board the luxury liner Viking Sky yesterday (Saturday 23 March) when it sent out a Mayday after engine failure caused it to drift towards land southwest of Trondheim.

Seventeen injured passengers were hospitalised after the ship became adrift amid stormy conditions in the Norwegian Sea.

Others described chaos on board yesterday afternoon as “window panes were broken” and water began flooding the decks.

A sizeable number of the more than 900 passengers on the manifest are from the United States and Britain.

Airlifting of passengers was suspended this morning (Sunday 24 March) as weather conditions eased and tugboats were attached to move the vessel towards the nearest port at Molde.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.