Ferry Sinks Off Norway; 11 Die, 12 Are Missing

Rescue workers searched the North Sea off Norway today after a high-speed ferry sank in rough weather, leaving at least 11 people dead and 12 missing.

Chances of finding additional survivors in the chilly waters were slim after the ultra-modern Sleipner catamaran hit rocks and sank Friday evening near Haugesund in western Norway with 88 passengers and crew members.

Some of the 65 survivors plucked from the sea or from life rafts were hospitalized in serious condition.

Norway’s state rescue service said a Sea King helicopter and a dozen boats, equipped with searchlights, would keep scouring the area where the ferry sank.

“There are 11 dead and 12 other people unaccounted for,” said Sander Bull-Gjertsen, spokesman for the rescue service. “We will continue the search all night. . . . The weather is bad.”

Survivors were wrapped in blankets as soon as they were brought to safety. The death toll rose from 10 late Friday after one person died in a hospital.

Most, if not all, of the casualties were believed to be Norwegians. The ferry was on a domestic route from Stavanger north to Bergen and had no passenger list.

One of the helicopter crew members described the shock of seeing tiny pinpoints of light on about 20 life jackets bobbing in the sea when he arrived on the scene. “It was the most dramatic sight I have ever seen,” he said.

The temperature of the water was estimated at 46 degrees. Doctors said a person could survive for perhaps 30 minutes in the water.

Survivors said there was panic when the ship split apart and sank after being skewered on a rock at the entrance to a fiord.