Salvors have successfully refloated a cruise ship that had run aground on the Romanian side of the Danube River early last week.
Viking Cruises' river ship Viking Ullur was freed on Saturday, August 1, and eventually reached the Port of Vidin in Bulgaria, which was her originally scheduled stop on July 28.
The ship had departed Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Romania at around 21:15 local time on July 27 and was en route to Vidin when she struck a sandbank at 02:20 the following morning.
The Bulgarian Border Police said that the mishap had occurred due to reduced nighttime visibility in addition to the Danube's low water level.
All 186 of Viking Ullur's passengers were evacuated, thus allowing local authorities to focus their efforts on freeing the vessel from where she had become stranded.
An earlier refloating had been attempted by another river cruise ship but was abandoned when it became evident that the other ship could not get close enough to the sandbank.
A maintenance dredging company that had been contracted by the Bulgarian Government then sent one of its vessels to render assistance. The dredger was able to help free the cruise ship, thus allowing the latter to sail away from the area and head for Vidin under her own power.