A cruise ship carrying 206 passengers and crew has run aground in a remote stretch of Greenland and could be stranded for days waiting for the nearest ship to arrive to help.
The Ocean Explorer ship ran into trouble on Monday in the Alpefjord, a dramatic and rugged stretch of Northeast Greenland National Park, and was unable to free itself, according to a statement from Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command (JAC).
“This means that the tide — which came during the day — did not provide the desired navigation assistance,” said a JAC statement. There were no reports of injuries or risk of damage to the environment as a result of the grounding.
After the incident, the nearest inspection vessel, the Knud Rasmussen, was deployed to help, but faced a journey of more than 2,200 kilometers to reach the cruise ship, according to the statement.
The ship is expected to arrive earlier at Ocean Explorer on Friday morning (15th), depending on the weather.
“As soon as we realized that the Ocean Explorer would not be able to free itself, we sent a ship towards the wreckage,” said Arctic Commander Brian Jensen.
“As soon as possible, we will also fly over the site to obtain new images that will help us assess the situation there,” he continued.
Ocean Explorer is currently operated by Aurora Expeditions, in accordance with the official site from the Australian company, which states that the ship was “built specifically for expedition voyages to the world’s most remote destinations.” CNN has reached out to Aurora Expeditions for comment.
Arctic Command claims to be in contact with relevant ships in the area that could help.
Jensen said the Ocean Explorer could still re-float at high tide, but otherwise the Knud Rasmussen would help.
“No matter what happens, the most important thing for us is that everyone is safe,” he said.
According to the statement, the Government of Greenland, the Danish Maritime Authority and the Danish Accident Investigation Board were informed of the incident.
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With input from Tamara Hardingham-Gill
Source: CNN Brasil
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