The MS Ocean Explorer aground in the Northeast Greenland National Park in Greenland, September 12, 2023. Photo credit: Air Force/Arctic Command
A modern expedition cruise ship with 206 people on board has run aground in Greenland’s Alpefjord, located within the Northeast Greenland National Park, Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command (JAC) reported Tuesday.
Currently, the Ocean Explorer is the stable with no immediate threat to the environment or safety to those on board. However, the vessel is unable to free itself and there are no assets in the area capable of assisting.
“A cruise ship in trouble in the National Park is of course worrisome. There is a long way for immediate help, our units are far from that and the weather can be very unfavorable. In the specific situation, however, we do not see acute danger to human life or the environment, which is reassuring. Of course, we are following the situation closely and take this incident very seriously,” JAC Commander Captain Brian Jensen said.
Arctic Command’s closest vessel, the Knud Rasmussen, was located approximately 1.200 nautical miles from the stranded ship. The earliest it can arrive in the area is on Friday morning, depending on weather.
A second cruise ship is nearby and will remain in the area to help if needed. The Icelandic Coast Guard may also be called into assist.
“As soon as we realized that the Ocean Explorer couldn’t get free on its own, we sent a ship,” said Jensen. The JAC is also expected to send an airplane to assess the situation.
“We have reached out to relevant partners in the operation area to investigate whether other units can have a shorter and faster route to the grounded ship,” Jensen added.
The JAC is assessing multiple options for freeing the ship.
“They can either try to get out on their own help when the tide becomes high, they can get help from a nearby cruise ship, they can get assistance from Knud Rasmussen, or they can get help of one of our collaborators. No matter what, the most important thing for us is that everyone arrives safe,” Jensen said.
An initial attempt to refloat the vessel at high tide was unsuccessful.
The Ocean Explorer is an ‘Infinity-class’ expedition cruise ship owned by SunStone Ships and built in 2021 by Ulstein at its partner yard China Merchants Heavy Industries (CMHI). The vessel measures 104.4-meters in length and features Ulstein’s patented “X-Bow”. It can accommodate 165 passengers and up to 300 included crew.
The vessel is currently operated by a subsidiary of Aurora Expeditions, which acquired the business of its former operator Vantage Deluxe Travel last month as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
The Infinity-class previously made headlines for being the first cruise ships to feature the X-Bow from Ulstein.
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