Terror as Viking cruise ship passengers wake in collision with oil tanker

Cruise collision: The hull of the oil tanker was badly damaged in the incident. Photo / GAINFRA_ZW7, Twitter

Passengers of the Viking Idun were jolted out of their beds in the early hours of the morning, after their vessel collided with another ship.

The river cruise from Antwerp to Gent had been carrying 171 passengers on a 10 day itinerary though Belgium.

Pictures show both ships were damaged in the incident shortly after midnight on the seventh day.

The local newspaper Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant reported the incident near Terneuzen resulted in serious damage to the cruise ship's bow and large tears to the hull of the oil tanker.

No passengers were injured but the river cruise boat suffered substantial damage. Photo / Tammy Miller, Facebook

Fortunately a serious oil leak had been avoided due to the damage being above the water line.

Pictures from cruise passengers show significant of damage to the Idun's interior.

Glass windows and crockery had been shattered with solid tables being overturned.

Passengers Steve and Shelly Eitel told the website News Parrot that they "went flying on our couches and chairs to the opposite end of the deck."

No passengers were injured in the incident.

Viking confirmed that all passengers had been provided with a new itinerary and would continue their travel.

The damaged bow of the Viking Cruises ship . Photo / Tammy Miller, Facebook

"We can confirm that just after midnight (CEST) on 1 April, Viking Idun and a cargo vessel collided while sailing from Antwerp to Ghent," a spokesperson for the cruise line told the Sun Online.

"While damage of the ship is being assessed, guests will continue with a modified version of the itinerary.

"We hope to have the ship in operation in time for its next departure on 4 April. If that should not be so, future guests will be accommodated on another Viking longship."

The damage aboard Viking Idun. Photo / Zeeuwsvlaanderen Police, Instagram

Last month passengers had to be rescued from another Viking ship after its engines failed off of Norway.

In a dramatic rescue 1373 passengers had to be winched off the ship by helicopter during storms.

The Viking Sky was eventually brought into the Norwegian port of Molde and an investigation is ongoing into the mayday call on March 25.