A cruise ship powered by an old-fashioned paddle-wheel ran aground off the coast of Alaska on Monday, prompting a massive rescue effort that transferred all 248 passengers to other ships in the area, DPA reported. The cruise ship Empress of the North, operated by Majestic America Line of Seattle, hit a reef off the coast and sprung a leak, prompting the order to evacuate at about 1:30 am (1030 GMT). The incident occurred in an area known as the Icy Straight, about 25 kilometres southwest of the state capital Juneau. Despite strong winds, one-metre high waves and ice-cold water, all the passengers were evacuated by 8 am to a variety of vessels that rushed to the cruise ship's aid, said Blake Painter, whose trawler, The Evening Star was the first ship on the scene and took aboard 22 passengers. "Everyone's off the cruise ship," he told US television network CNN. "I believe they've got it stabilized. Everybody is really fortunate that it only breached part of the ship. If it had gone down I wouldn't expect anyone to live more than a minute or two in this water." Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane said that the vessel, with 29 crew members aboard, was heading toward Juneau with a Coast Guard escort.
