An American woman has died after a replica Viking ship she was in capsized during a tourist voyage to Norway.
Archeologist Karla Dana, 29, from Florida, has been named as the victim aboard the Naddodur vessel, which launched from the Faroe Islands four days earlier.
Six people were aboard the ship when it encountered rough seas on Tuesday, however only five emerged on a inflatable life raft that was saved by a helicopter.
The boat sent out a distress signal on Tuesday, but a helicopter to the area determined it was a false alarm, Norwegian outlet VG reported.
Around an hour after the initial distress signal was launched, a second alert triggered a larger search of the area – around 60 miles from the Norwegian coast – which found Dana’s body on Wednesday close to where the boat capsized.
An American woman has died after the Viking replica ship Naddoddur (pictured) capsized off the coast of Norway on Tuesday
Archeologist Karla Dana, 29, from Florida, has been named as the victim aboard the Naddodur vessel after her body was found on Wednesday
The exact cause of the capsizing has not been determined, however Norway’s Sea Rescue Society (NSRS) reported stormy conditions, strong winds and large waves as they conducted the rescue operations.
Footage of the rescue mission showed terrifying conditions gripped the North Sea region where the tragedy unfolded, where waves reportedly swelled to over 16 feet.
The five survivors included three men and one woman from Switzerland, and another man from the Faroe Islands, who were airlifted to safety following the tragedy.
None of the survivors suffered injuries but were being treated by crisis teams for psychological damage, reports GlobalNews.
Norwegian media reported that the Viking replica vessel had launched Saturday after bad weather delayed the trip, and the voyage was expected to last up to five days before the ship was trapped in a storm.
In a poster for the trip shared by skipper Andy Fitze on Facebook, the fateful trip was described as an ‘unforgettable event that takes you back to the time of the Vikings.’
Dana reportedly originally hailed from Mexico, and was described as a Viking archeologist
The replica ship was not fitted with any form of motor, and was steered only by sails and oars to model ancient Faroese traditions
In a poster for the trip shared by skipper Andy Fitze on Facebook , the fateful trip was described as an ‘unforgettable event that takes you back to the time of the Vikings’
The replica ship was not fitted with any form of motor, and was steered only by sails and oars to model ancient Faroese traditions.
Bergur Jacobsen, the chairman of the Naddoddur boat club that owned the vessel, told the BBC that the replica ship had previously completed a number of journeys including to Iceland, Shetland and Norway.
