Officials Race to Contain Oil Spill Following Sinking of Passenger Vessel in Greenland

By Malte Humpert (gCaptain) –

Emergency personnel in Greenland near the southern community of Nanortalik worked over the weekend to contain a 20,000 liters oil spill following the sinking of the small expedition passenger ship Adolf Jensen.

The vessel ran aground and subsequently sank last week at the mouth of the Tasermiut Fjord north of Nanortalik.

The vessel carried between 15,000 and 20,000 liters of diesel in addition to 1,000 liters of gasoline. 

“We don’t know where the oil is coming from on the ship, or how much has leaked at the moment, it’s a bit difficult to assess,” the head of Greenland Police’s investigation unit, Jaaku Andreasen, said.

Initial efforts to contain the spill using floating barriers and pumps were hampered by tides, currents and wind, a police report detailed.

The Ministry for Environment and Emergency Management has since escalated requests for aid to include the Danish Navy’s Arctic Command. Over the weekend extra personnel were called to the scene, officials stated as the cleanup efforts continued.

“Oil films are visible on the water surface in the Nanortalik fjords due to a leak from the Adolf Jensen,” the local police reported, according to AFP.

The vessel’s crew and passengers were able to safely evacuate and reach the shore prior to the vessel’s sinking around 5 hours after running aground. 

Adolf Jensen is operated by Greenlandic company 60 North, which according to its website offers boat charters, accommodation, and construction services.

The company’s president and CEO, Rasmus Christian Rasmussen, told the AFP that he couldn’t comment. “I have no comment to make, I don’t know what happened. I need to speak to the police and my team,” he declared.

Arctic waters have seen a number of near-misses involving cruise and expedition ships of all sizes over the past decade.

The Russian passenger vessel Akademik Ioffe ran aground in the Canadian Arctic with 162 passengers and crew in 2018, while navigating through poorly charted shallow waters. Calm conditions, the vessel staying afloat, and rescue in the form of a Canadian Coast guard vessel nearby avoided a major incident.

Eight years earlier the Clipper Adventurer, a 100-meter ice-capable cruise ship, struck an underwater obstacle just over three meters below the surface near Kugluktuk, Canada in Coronation Gulf while carrying around 200 passengers. Again, calm seas allowed for an orderly rescue. 

The Norwegian cruise ship Viking Sky experienced a near-grounding after loss of propulsion while traveling in the Norwegian Sea in March 2019 with 1,374 passengers and crew.