A luxury cruise ship with 206 people on board, including passengers and crew, ran aground yesterday Monday in a bay in the Northeast Greenland National Park, as reported today by the Arctic Command of the Danish Armed Forces (JAC).
“The Ocean Explorer has become stranded following an accident in Alpefjord Bay and is not able to free itself immediately,” JAC said in a statement.
The closest vessel capable of coming to the aid of the cruise ship was at a distance of approximately 1,200 nautical miles on Monday, which implies that it will arrive in the area on Friday morning at the earliest, and always in the event that weather conditions They are favorable.
According to this information, no one was injured in the crash that caused the stranding and it appears that the boat has not suffered any damage that could pose a risk to the environment.
“A cruise ship in distress in the National Park is of course worrying. The closest help is far away, our units are far away and the weather can be very unfavorable,” stated JAC Chief of Operations Brian Jensen.
“However, we do not see an acute risk to human life or the environment, which is reassuring,” he added.
Jensen explained that, in addition to sending a rescue ship, the JAC will send a drone as soon as possible to obtain images to help evaluate the situation, and is coordinating with other forces such as the Icelandic Coast Guard.
The ship, launched in 2021 in Boston by the company Vantage Deluxe World Travel, offers adventure trips to remote places with all the comforts. On September 6 she had set sail from the Norwegian port of Bronnoysund heading to Greenland after having stopped in Reykjavik and different Norwegian fjords.
The Northeast Greenland National Park occupies almost half the surface of the island belonging to Denmark and is the largest, as well as the northernmost, in the world.
