Cruise ship evacuated off Latvian coast

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvia's coast guard on Monday removed more than 650 people from a stranded cruise ship after tugboats failed to pull the luxury liner off an underwater sand bank in the Baltic Sea.

In a five-hour operation, 651 passengers — most of them elderly Germans — and 11 crew members were transferred from the 201-meter-long (660-foot-long) Mona Lisa onto two naval ships, coast guard officials said.

They were taken about 37 kilometers (22 miles) to Ventspils, a port city in northwestern Latvia, and from there will go to the capital, Riga.

The passengers and crew members left the ship without incident, descending ladders to the naval ships, coast guard spokeswoman Liene Ulbina said.

She said 322 crew remained on board at the captain's orders as the salvage operation continues....