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A luxury cruise ship is pulled free 3 days after running aground in Greenland

The Associated Press

The Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which had run aground in northwestern Greenland, is pictured on Tuesday SIRIUS/Joint Arctic Command/AP hide caption

The Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which had run aground in northwestern Greenland, is pictured on Tuesday

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The luxury cruise ship MV Ocean Explorer was successfully pulled free on Thursday, three days after running aground in Greenland with 206 people on board, authorities and the ship's owner said.

The ship was freed by a fisheries research vessel at high tide, said the cruise ship's owner, Copenhagen-based SunStone Ships, and the Joint Arctic Command, which coordinated the operation.

"There have not been any injuries to anybody onboard, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull," SunStone Ships said in a statement. The research vessel which pulled the cruise ship belongs to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a government agency, it said.

It said the cruise ship and its passengers will now travel to a port where the damage to the vessel's bottom can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a location from where they can be flown home. There was no immediate comment from the tour company that organized the trip, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions.

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The cruise ship ran aground Monday above the Arctic Circle in Alpefjord in Northeast Greenland National Park, the world's northernmost national park. The park is nearly the size of France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is covered by an ice sheet. Alpefjord is about 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the country's capital, Nuuk.

The Bahamas-flagged cruise ship has passengers from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine, 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants.

Earlier Thursday, Aurora Expeditions said three passengers had COVID-19.

"These passengers are currently in isolation. They are looked after by our onboard doctor, medical team and crew, and they are doing well," it said in a statement. Others on the MV Ocean Explorer are "safe and healthy," it said.

Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a retiree from Australia who is on the ship, Steven Fraser, as saying: "Everyone's in good spirits. It's a little bit frustrating, but we are in a beautiful part of the world."

Fraser told the newspaper that he had come down with COVID-19 on the ship.

Cmdr. Brian Jensen of the Joint Arctic Command told Greenland broadcaster KNR that the ship is likely to go to Iceland, the closest place with large ports.

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"Now it is exciting to find out what the condition of the ship is," Jensen was quoted as saying by KNR. "They are in the process of investigating whether the ship is intact and seaworthy and ready to sail on."

The ship's owner said several other vessels had rushed to the scene "and offered their assistance, which however, was not needed." It said it had also "arranged additional tug assistance in case it was needed, however, this has now been canceled."

Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland's coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape, waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

Danish broadcaster DR said there were 400 cruises in Greenland in 2022 and 600 cruises in 2023.

The Danish Maritime Authority asked police in Greenland to investigate why the ship ran aground and whether any laws had been violated, a police statement said, adding that no one has been charged or arrested. An officer has been on board the ship to carry out "initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board," it said.

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The cruise liner began its current trip on Sept. 2 in Kirkenes in Arctic Norway and was due to return to Bergen, Norway, on Sept. 22, according to SunStone Ships.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.

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A Luxury Cruise Ship, Stuck Off Greenland’s Coast for 3 Days, Is Pulled Free

The Ocean Explorer had been traveling toward Northeast Greenland National Park when it ran aground on Monday, officials said. The ship was pulled free on Thursday.

By Eduardo Medina

A luxury cruise ship that had been stuck for three days after running aground off the coast of Greenland was pulled free on Thursday morning, the authorities said.

The ship, the Ocean Explorer, had been carrying 206 passengers and crew members and was headed toward Alpefjord, in a remote corner of Greenland. The ship’s destination was the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s northernmost national park, which is home to icebergs, glaciers and high mountains.

The Joint Arctic Command, which is part of Denmark’s defense forces, and SunStone Maritime Group , the coordinators of the rescue operation, said in statements on Thursday that the ship had been pulled free by a vessel named Tarajoq.

There were no reported injuries on board the ship, and there was no threat to the environment. The ship’s operator, Aurora Expeditions, a cruise company based in Australia, said in a statement on Thursday that “all onboard are safe” and that it appreciated “the patience and understanding of our passengers during this process.”

“We are waiting on the relevant authorities for advice regarding our next steps,” the company said.

The rescue came after an unsuccessful attempt on Wednesday, in which a fishing research vessel owned by the government of Greenland tried and failed to pull free the Ocean Explorer at high tide. Bad weather also slowed the government’s rescue operations, officials said.

Before the ship was freed, the Joint Arctic Command had said that “the crew and passengers are in a difficult situation, but after the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good and everyone on board is fine.”

It was unclear what caused the ship to run aground near Greenland, which is part of Denmark but has autonomy over most domestic affairs. Officials said there were no indications that the ship had suffered serious damage to its foundation.

Cruises around Greenland have become increasingly popular with tourists seeking adventure and comfort aboard ships packed with amenities.The Ocean Explorer, built in 2021, was made to “travel to the world’s most remote destinations,” according to Aurora Expeditions’ website .

Prices for a 17-day expedition that tours Greenland start at more than $15,000 per person. The ship has a gym, a Jacuzzi and spacious suites that are 640 square feet, offering guests two large master bathrooms, one master bedroom and expansive views of the sea .

Photos of the stuck Ocean Explorer on Wednesday showed a blue-and-white ship floating in waters with frosted mountain peaks in the distance.

Extreme cold did not appear to be a major issue for stranded passengers on Wednesday: The temperature in the area was around 2.2 degrees Celsius, or about 36 degrees Fahrenheit, that night.

Jenny Gross contributed reporting.

Eduardo Medina is a reporter covering breaking news. More about Eduardo Medina

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Luxury cruise ship that ran aground in Greenland is freed after three days

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The luxury cruise ship MV Ocean Explorer was “successfully” pulled free in Greenland on Thursday, three days after running aground with 206 people on board, authorities and the ship’s owner said.

The ship was freed by a fisheries research vessel at high tide, said the cruise ship’s owner, Copenhagen-based SunStone Ships, and the Danish Joint Arctic Command, which had been coordinating the operation .

“There have not been any injuries to anybody on board, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull,” SunStone Ships said in a statement. The research vessel that pulled the cruise ship belongs to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a government agency, it said.

It said the cruise ship and its passengers will travel to a port where the damage to the vessel’s bottom can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a location from where they can be flown home. There was no immediate comment from the tour company that organized the trip, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions.

The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle on Monday in Alpefjord, which is in Northeast Greenland National Park. The park encompasses almost as much land as France and Spain combined, and about 80% is permanently covered by an ice sheet . Alpefjord sits about 150 miles away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 870 miles from the country’s capital, Nuuk.

The Bahamas-flagged cruise ship has passengers from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Britain and the U.S. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants.

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Earlier Thursday, Aurora Expeditions said that three passengers had COVID-19.

“These passengers are currently in isolation. They are looked after by our onboard doctor, medical team and crew, and they are doing well,” Aurora Expeditions said in a statement. The others on the MV Ocean Explorer are “safe and healthy,” it added.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a retired Australian couple, Steven Fraser and Gina Hill, as saying there were “a lot of wealthy older people” on board.

“Everyone’s in good spirits. It’s a little bit frustrating, but we are in a beautiful part of the world,” Fraser told the paper, adding that he himself had come down with COVID-19 on the ship.

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Cmdr. Brian Jensen of the Joint Arctic Command told Greenland broadcaster KNR that the ship is likely to go to Iceland, the closest place with large ports.

“Now it is exciting to find out what the condition of the ship is,“ Jensen was quoted as saying by KNR. “They are in the process of investigating whether the ship is intact and seaworthy and ready to sail on.”

The ship’s owner said several other vessels had rushed to the scene “and offered their assistance, which, however, was not needed.” It said it had also “arranged additional tug assistance in case it was needed — however, this has now been canceled.”

Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year for passengers to admire the picturesque, sometimes-barren mountainous landscape, with fjords and waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

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Danish broadcaster DR said that there were 400 cruises in Greenland in 2022 and 600 cruises in 2023.

The Danish Maritime Authority asked police in Greenland to investigate why the ship ran aground and whether any laws had been violated. So far, no one has been charged or arrested. According to the daily, citing a police statement, an officer had been on board the cruise ship to carry out “initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board.”

The cruise liner began its latest trip Sept. 2 in Kirkenes, in Arctic Norway, and was due to return to Bergen, Norway, on Sept. 22, according to SunStone Ships.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faroe Islands.

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Cruise ship that touts its "navigation capabilities" runs aground in Greenland with more than 200 onboard

By Li Cohen

September 13, 2023 / 9:04 AM EDT / CBS News

The Ocean Explorer expedition has been touted as a cruise ship "purpose-built for expedition travel to the world's most remote destinations," complete with "cutting-edge technology" and its "navigation capabilities." 

But on Tuesday, it ran aground in a national park in northeast Greenland . 

The Joint Arctic Command said the ship grounded in Alpefjord, part of the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world's largest national park, on Tuesday. According to Greenland travel site Visit Greenland , the remote area is an area considered an " Arctic Desert " because annual rainfall is so low. 

There was no damage to the vessel that could cause a risk to the environment. 

"A cruise ship in trouble in the National Park is of course worrisome," Arctic Command Commander Capt. Brian Jensen said in a statement, adding, however, that the units available to help were not able to do so immediately and that the weather in the area can be "unfavorable," according to a translation. "... In the specific situation, however, we do not see acute danger to human life or the environment, which is reassuring." 

The closest ship available to help the vessel can be there no sooner than Friday morning, assuming the weather holds up, the command said, but officials said they were in contact with another cruise ship to standby should they be needed. 

As of Wednesday morning Eastern time, the cruise ship was still grounded, officials said.

The Ocean Explorer is among an "award-winning Infinity-class of vessels," according to Aurora Expeditions , which offers excursions on the vessel. According to the company, the Ocean Explorer is meant to accommodate 134 expeditioners. The Joint Arctic Command says that when they came across the vessel, there were 206 people onboard. 

The ship was designed with luxury, offering "state-of-the-art amenities," including an onboard gym, jacuzzi, lounges, a spa, an atrium, a library and more. 

While officials said the situation remains "difficult," they've "gained assurance that the crew and passengers of Ocean Explorer are in good condition," according to a translation. 

"The atmosphere on the ship is good and everyone on board is fine," the Joint Arctic Command said on Facebook . 

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Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.

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Luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people runs aground in remote Greenland

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A fishing vessel in Greenland will try to free a cruise ship that ran aground with 206 people

A view of the Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which has run aground in northwestern Greenland, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. The 104.4-meter (343-foot) long and 18-meter (60 foot) wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It’s the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast. According to authorities no one on board was in danger and no damage has been reported. (SIRIUS/Joint Arctic Command via AP)

An aerial photo shows the Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which has run aground in northwestern Greenland, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. The 104.4-meter (343-foot) long and 18-meter (60 foot) wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It’s the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast. According to authorities no one on board was in danger and no damage has been reported. (Danish Air Force/Joint Arctic Command via AP)

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A fishing vessel owned by Greenland’s government will attempt to use a high tide to pull free a Bahamas-flagged luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people that ran aground in the world’s northernmost national park, authorities said.

Capt. Flemming Madsen of the Danish Joint Arctic Command told The Associated Press that the passengers and crew on the ship stranded in northwestern Greenland were doing fine and ”all I can say is that they got a lifetime experience.”

The scientific fishing vessel was scheduled to arrive later Wednesday and would attempt when the conditions were right to pull the 104.4-meter- (343-foot) long and 18-meter- (60-foot) wide MV Ocean Explorer free.

The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle Monday in Alpefjord, which is in the Northeast Greenland National Park. The park covers 972,000 square kilometers (603,973 square miles), almost as much land as France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is permanently covered by an ice sheet , according to the Visit Greenland tourism board.

Alpefjord sits in a remote corner of Greenland, some 240 kilometers (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the country’s capital, Nuuk.

The Ocean Explorer’s crew made two failed attempts to get the ship to float free on its own during high tide.

In a statement, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions, which operates the ship, said the passengers and crew members were safe and well and that there was “no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel, or the surrounding environment.”

“We are actively engaged in efforts to free the MV Ocean Explorer from its grounding. Our foremost commitment is to ensure the vessel’s recovery without compromising safety,” the statement said.

Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape with fjords, musk oxen, and the waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

Madsen, of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, said the passengers on the Ocean Explorer were “a mix” of tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States and South Korea. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.

The people onboard “are in a difficult situation, but given the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good, and everyone on board is doing well. There are no signs that the ship was seriously damaged by the grounding,” the Joint Arctic Command said Wednesday.

The weather in the region Wednesday featured sun, a clear blue sky and a temperature around 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Danish Meteorological Institute.

The Ocean Explorer was built in 2021 and is owned by Copenhagen SunStone Ships, which is part of Denmark’s SunStone Group. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants, according to the Sunstone Group website.

The Joint Arctic Command said there were other ships in the vicinity of the stranded cruise liner and “if the need arises, personnel from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol can be at the accident site within an hour and a half.”

On Tuesday, members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, visited the passengers and explained the situation, “which calmed them down as some were anxious,” Madsen, who was the on-duty officer for the Joint Arctic Command, said.

The command, which was coordinating the operation to free the cruise ship, said the nearest Danish navy ship was about 1,200 nautical miles (more than 2,000 kilometers or 1,380 miles) away. It was heading to the site and could be expected to reach the grounded ship as soon as Friday.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north.

This version has been corrected to show the cruise ship is owned by a Danish group, not Norwegian.

Expedition cruise ship carrying 206 freed after running aground in Greenland

An expedition cruise ship that got stuck in a remote part of Greenland with hundreds of people on board was freed Thursday.

The Ocean Explorer ship was pulled loose by research vessel Tarajoq, which is run by the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources , the Danish military’s Joint Arctic Command said on Facebook .

The vessel ran aground earlier this week in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. The tide previously failed to free the ship, the Joint Arctic Command said on Tuesday.

Operator Aurora Expeditions said that all on board are safe and there is no environmental damage. "We are waiting on the relevant authorities for advice regarding our next steps," the company said in an emailed statement.

"We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the management and team of the Tarajoq vessel, for assisting us during this challenging time, and our team who have worked tirelessly to ensure the safety and comfort of our passengers," the statement continued. "We also sincerely appreciate the patience and understanding of our passengers during this process. We remain committed to assisting them as the situation progresses."

Photos shared by Joint Arctic Command on Facebook earlier in the week showed the ship – which is carrying 206 passengers and crew members – on calm water in sunny weather conditions. Officials said there is no evidence the ship had suffered serious damage as a result of the grounding.

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Denmark’s Danish Maritime Authority has asked police in Greenland to investigate why the ship ran aground and whether any laws had been violated, a police statement said, adding that no one has been charged or arrested. An officer had been on board the ship to carry out “initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board,” it added.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faroe Islands.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Cruise ship runs aground in Greenland with 206 passengers onboard

There are no reports of injuries on the Ocean Explorer, which was grounded in the remote Northeast Greenland National Park

A cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew onboard has run aground in north-west Greenland , and remained stuck even after high tide.

Cmdr Brian Jensen of Denmark ’s Joint Arctic Command said that nobody on board was in danger and that no damage has been reported, but added that officials “take this incident very seriously”.

“Our units are far away, and the weather can be very unfavourable,” he said in a statement.

The closest Danish navy ship was about 1,200 nautical miles (1,380 miles or 2,200km) away, he said, adding it was heading to the site and could be expected at the grounded ship as soon as Friday.

The 104-metre (343ft) long and 18-metre wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It is the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast.

Authorities have been in contact with another cruise ship in the area and it had been asked to remain nearby to assist should the situation develop. The other cruise ship was not identified.

The grounded cruise ship might also get free on its own when the tide is high, Greenland television KNR reported. “Regardless, the most important thing for us is that everyone gets to safety,” Jensen said.

Later on Tuesday the Joint Arctic Command said on its Facebook page that the ship was still stuck despite the tide.

“There are still no reports that human life or the environment is in acute danger,” it added.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland, two semi-independent territories that are part of the Danish realm.

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Luxury cruise ship pulled free three days after getting stranded in Greenland

The MV Ocean Explorer and its 206 passengers have been pulled free after running aground in Greenland earlier this week.

The luxury cruise ship stranded in Greenland has been pulled free at high tide. 

The successful rescue operation took place on Thursday, three days after the MV Ocean Explorer ran aground with 206 people on board, authorities and the ship's owner said.

The ship was freed by a fisheries research vessel at high tide, according to the cruise ship's owner, Copenhagen-based SunStone Ships, and the Joint Arctic Command, which coordinated the operation.

"There have not been any injuries to anybody onboard, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull,” SunStone Ships said in a statement. 

The research vessel which pulled the cruise ship belongs to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a government agency, it said.

What happened to the MV Ocean Explorer?

The MV Ocean Explorer ran aground in northwestern Greenland on Monday.

With the closest Danish Defence ship over 2,000km away at the time of the incident, help was not expected to arrive until Friday evening.

“Our units are far away, and the weather can be very unfavourable,” said Cmdr Brian Jensen of the Joint Arctic Command at the time.

The Joint Arctic Command is a joint operational territorial command of the Danish Defence operating in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. As well as protecting the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark in the Arctic Region, it carries out search and rescue missions, research and pollution prevention tasks in the region.

On Wednesday, a research ship owned by the Greenland government unsuccessfully attempted to pull the ship off ground during high tide.

Three passengers on board the ship were reportedly isolating with Covid-19.

The 104.4-metre-long and 18-metre-wide Ocean Explorer ran aground in Alpefjord, above the Arctic Circle in the Northeast Greenland National Park. 

The park is nearly the size of France and Spain combined, and approximately 80 per cent is covered by an ice sheet. 

Alpefjord is about 240 km from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which is nearly 1,400 km from the country’s capital, Nuuk.

What will happen to the cruise ship passengers now?

The cruise ship and its passengers will now travel to a port where the damage to the vessel’s bottom can be assessed. The passengers will be taken to a location from where they can be flown home. 

The Bahamas-flagged cruise ship has passengers from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds, 99 beds for crew and several restaurants.

Jensen told Greenland broadcaster KNR that the ship is likely to go to Iceland, the closest place with large ports.

“Now it is exciting to find out what the condition of the ship is,“ Jensen was quoted as saying by KNR. “They are in the process of investigating whether the ship is intact and seaworthy and ready to sail on.”

The ship's owner said several other vessels had rushed to the scene “and offered their assistance, which however, was not needed.” It said it had also “arranged additional tug assistance in case it was needed, however, this has now been cancelled.”

There was no immediate comment from the tour company that organised the trip, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions.

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Why did the cruise ship run aground?

Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape, waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

Danish broadcaster DR said there were 400 cruises in Greenland in 2022 and 600 cruises in 2023.

The Danish Maritime Authority asked police in Greenland to investigate why the ship ran aground and whether any laws had been violated, a police statement said, adding that no one has been charged or arrested. 

An officer has been on board the ship to carry out “initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board,” it said.

The cruise liner began its current trip on 2 September in Kirkenes in Arctic Norway and was due to return to Bergen, Norway, on 22 September, according to SunStone Ships.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.

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Over 200 people are stuck in a remote part of Greenland after their luxury cruise ship ran aground. Their rescuers in the Arctic say the 'nearest help is far away.'

• Aurora Expeditions' Ocean Explorer cruise ship is stuck in Greenland after running aground.
• The luxury cruise was carrying 206 passengers when it was grounded.
• Denmark's Joint Arctic Command said the earliest its closest ship can arrive is Friday.

A luxury cruise carrying 206 passengers is now stuck in a remote part of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, after it ran aground.

"On Monday afternoon West Greenlandic time, the Arctic Command received a message that the cruise ship Ocean Explorer was grounded in the Alpefjord in Northeast Greenland, and that the ship is not immediately able to be freed by its own help," Denmark's Joint Arctic Command said in a statement on Tuesday.

Brian Jensen, the head of operations for the Joint Arctic Command, said in the statement that the situation "is of course worrisome."

"The nearest help is far away, our units are far away, and the weather can be very unfavorable," Jensen said. "However, in this specific situation, we do not see any immediate danger to human life or the environment, which is reassuring."

"Of course, we are following the situation closely and take this incident very seriously," he continued.

According to the Joint Arctic Command's statement on Tuesday morning, their closest ship, the inspection vessel Knud Rasmussen, is approximately 1,200 nautical miles away from the Ocean Explorer.

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The Joint Arctic Command said the earliest the Knud Rasmussen might reach the Ocean Explorer is Friday morning local time.

Satellite view of the Ocean Explorer – the cruise ship aground in the Alpefjord (East Greenland) with 206 people on board – as seen by @CopernicusEU Sentinel-2 yesterday. Not a very friendly place to be stuck at, but the good news is that the fjord is largely free of icebergs. pic.twitter.com/HV7KwiPvzS — Bert Wouters (@bert_polar) September 12, 2023

The Joint Arctic Command said it has asked a nearby cruise ship to remain in the area to provide assistance in case the situation changes.

Jensen also outlined a few scenarios in which the Ocean Explorer could be dislodged.

"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," Jensen said.

But the Joint Arctic Command also noted in a subsequent statement that the Ocean Explorer was still stuck after a tide came in.

A representative for Aurora Expeditions, the cruise ship's operator, told Insider that everyone on board the vessel was safe and well.

"We are actively engaged in efforts to free the MV Ocean Explorer, from its grounding," the representative said. "Our foremost commitment is to ensure the vessel's recovery without compromising safety."

Representatives for the Joint Arctic Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.

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Norwegian cruise ship with 206 people onboard runs aground in Greenland

The ship has made two failed attempts to float free on its own when the tide is high., by jan m. olsen | associated press • published september 13, 2023 • updated on september 13, 2023 at 10:12 am.

Authorities said Wednesday that a fishery vessel will attempt to use the high tide to pull free a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship carrying 206 people that ran aground in northwestern Greenland .

Capt. Flemming Madsen from the Danish Joint Arctic Command told The Associated Press that those on board were doing fine and ”all I can say is that they got a lifetime experience.”

A scientific fishing vessel owned by the Greenland government was scheduled to arrive later Wednesday and together with the high tide would attempt to pull the 104.4-meter (343-foot) long and 18-meter (60 foot) wide MV Ocean Explorer free.

The cruise ship, 104.4 meters (343 feet) long and 18 meters (60 feet) wide, ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park — the world’s largest and most northerly national park, known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast.

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The Alpefjord sits in a remote corner of Greenland, some 240 kilometers (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit which is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from Nuuk, the Greenland capital, and across from the ice sheet that covers the world’s largest island.

Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so that passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape with fjords, the waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

In a statement, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions which operates the ship, said that all passengers and and crew onboard were safe and well and that there was “no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel, or the surrounding environment.”

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“We are actively engaged in efforts to free the MV Ocean Explorer from its grounding. Our foremost commitment is to ensure the vessel’s recovery without compromising safety," the statement said.

Madsen said the passengers were “a mix” of tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States and South Korea.

The people onboard “are in a difficult situation, but given the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good and everyone on board is doing well. There are no signs that the ship was seriously damaged by the grounding,” the Joint Arctic Command said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, paid them a visit and explained the situation “which calmed them down as some were anxious,” said Madsen who was the on-duty officer with the Joint Arctic Command.

Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.

The Joint Arctic Command said Wednesday that there were other ships in the vicinity of the stranded cruise liner and “if the need arises, personnel from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol can be at the accident site within an hour and a half.”

The command said the nearest Danish navy ship, the patrol ship Knud Rasmussen, was about 1,200 nautical miles (more than 2,000 kilometers or 1,380 miles) away. It was heading to the site and could be expected to reach the grounded ship as soon as Friday.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland.

Based in Nuuk, the command oversees the waters around the Faeroe Islands in the east and the sea around Greenland, including Arctic Ocean in the north, and has three larger patrol ships of the Knud Rasmussen class that have a landing platform for helicopters, although the ships do not have choppers.

The ships’ tasks include fisheries inspections, environment protection, search and rescue, sovereignty enforcement, icebreaking, towage and salvage operations and carry out police tasks.

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Cruise ship with thousands on board runs aground in Caribbean

Officials hope Norwegian Escape, stranded off the north coast of the Dominican Republic, can be refloated at high tide.

Officials in the Dominican Republic have confirmed that a large cruise ship had run aground off the Caribbean island nation’s north coast shortly after leaving the port of Puerto Plata.

According to local media, the ship is the Norwegian Escape, with some 3,000 tourists and 1,600 crew on board.

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“For the moment, there is no risk for passengers or crew members,” Vice Admiral Ramon Gustavo Betances Hernandez told the media on Monday, adding that the ship had run aground due to “strong 30 knot winds.”

“The tide in this area rises about 1 metre (3 feet) at four in the morning (08:00 GMT). We think that with the high tide, we can get the boat out of its current position,” the vice-admiral said, noting that tugs had already been working in vain to free the vessel.

He said that additional tugs would soon be arriving to help in the effort.

The Norwegian Escape was on its way to the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, before making its way to the Bahamas, according to local media.

Crucero continúa encayado en Taíno Bay, Puerto Plata; al lugar se han presentado representantes de diferentes instituciones del estado, con la finalidad de colaborar con la tripulación y que siga su curso conforme al programa de navegación la nave “Norwegian Escape”. pic.twitter.com/jRdOfShVHq — Ramón Núñez Fernández (@RamonNunez81) March 15, 2022

(Translation: Cruise ship remains aground in Taino Baym, Puerto Plata; representatives from different government authorities have been at the site with the aim of working with the crew and for the ship, Norwegian Escape, to continue on its course )

Passengers posted pictures of the incident on social media, showing tug boats alongside the ship. There were no reports of damage.

According to the US-based Norwegian Cruise Line’s website, the Norwegian Escape is nearly 326 metres long (1,070 feet) and weighs 165,000 tonnes.

It can accommodate as many as 4,200 passengers and 1,700 crew members.

The ship, one of NCL’s biggest, was built in Germany and delivered in 2015.

Luxury cruise ship stranded in Greenland with Covid-positive passengers is finally pulled free

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The luxury cruise ship MV Ocean Explorer was successfully pulled free on Thursday, three days after running aground in Greenland with 206 people on board, authorities and the ship’s owner said.

The ship was freed by a fisheries research vessel at high tide, said the cruise ship’s owner, Copenhagen-based SunStone Ships, and the Joint Arctic Command, which coordinated the operation.

“There have not been any injuries to anybody onboard, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull,” SunStone Ships said in a statement. The research vessel which pulled the cruise ship belongs to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a government agency, it said.

It said the cruise ship and its passengers will now travel to a port where the damage to the vessel’s bottom can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a location from where they can be flown home. There was no immediate comment from the tour company that organized the trip, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions.

The cruise ship ran aground Monday above the Arctic Circle  in Alpefjord  in Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s northernmost national park. The park is nearly the size of France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is covered by  an ice sheet . Alpefjord is about 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the country’s capital, Nuuk.

The Bahamas-flagged cruise ship has passengers from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine, 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants.

Earlier Thursday, Aurora Expeditions said three passengers had Covid-19.

“These passengers are currently in isolation. They are looked after by our onboard doctor, medical team and crew, and they are doing well,” it said in a statement. Others on the MV Ocean Explorer are “safe and healthy,” it said.

Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a retiree from Australia who is on the ship, Steven Fraser, as saying: “Everyone’s in good spirits. It’s a little bit frustrating, but we are in a beautiful part of the world.”

Fraser told the newspaper that he had come down with Covid-19 on the ship.

Cmdr. Brian Jensen of the Joint Arctic Command told Greenland broadcaster KNR that the ship is likely to go to Iceland, the closest place with large ports.

“Now it is exciting to find out what the condition of the ship is,“ Jensen was quoted as saying by KNR. “They are in the process of investigating whether the ship is intact and seaworthy and ready to sail on.”

The ship’s owner said several other vessels had rushed to the scene “and offered their assistance, which however, was not needed.” It said it had also “arranged additional tug assistance in case it was needed, however, this has now been canceled.”

Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape, waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

Danish broadcaster DR said there were 400 cruises in Greenland in 2022 and 600 cruises in 2023.

The Danish Maritime Authority asked police in Greenland to investigate why the ship ran aground and whether any laws had been violated, a police statement said, adding that no one has been charged or arrested. An officer has been on board the ship to carry out “initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board,” it said.

The cruise liner began its current trip on Sept. 2 in Kirkenes in Arctic Norway and was due to return to Bergen, Norway, on Sept. 22, according to SunStone Ships.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.

The Associated Press

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Norwegian cruise ship with thousands of passengers onboard runs aground in Dominican Republic

It took seven hours to free the ship after it became stuck, article bookmarked.

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Strong winds have caused a large cruise ship with thousands of passengers on board to run aground off the Dominican Republic .

The 326-metre-long Norwegian Escape was heading out to sea when the incident occurred on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line said the Norwegian Escape "made contact with the channel bed as it was departing Puerto Plata".

Those on board reported they heard a “loud thud” and some said they felt the ship listing to one side.

No passengers or crew were injured.

It took seven hours to free the ship. After an initial attempt using tugboats failed, a decision was made to wait for high tide.

Once freed, the Norwegian Escape returned to port for checks.

A statement from Norwegian reads: “All guests and crew are safe, and there are no reports of damages to the ship. Operations on board have not been impacted and all services and activities continue as scheduled.”

Early reports were that the cruise would continue on its route, but a passenger informs The Independent that the ship will remain in Puerto Plata on Tuesday night.

Passengers have since been informed that “out of an abundance of caution” the remainder of the sailing is cancelled.

According to a letter distributed to passengers, a full refund has been offered and charter flights would return everyone to Florida. Those onboard will be disembarked between 16-18 March.

Launched in 2015, the Norwegian Escape carries 4,266 passengers and 1,733 crew.

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Watch Engineers Cut A Giant Cruise Ship In Half To Make It Even Bigger

Like turning eggs into omelets, it turns out you sometimes have to break a cruise ship to make it bigger..

There’s something slightly unnerving about seeing an enormous cruise ship out of water. A skyscraper-sized vessel propped up by a few planks of wood in a barren dry dock is definitely strange to see, but it gets even odder when you watch workers slowly cut a ship in half in pursuit of making the vessel even longer.

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That’s exactly the fate that befell the Silver Spirit cruise ship, which is operated by European cruise line Silversea Cruises. The ship entered dry dock back in 2018 as a 640-foot, 36,009 ton ship, and left two months later almost 50 feet longer and with a new gross tonnage of 39,519.

Now, video of that glow up has surfaced online and was brought to our attention by the folks over at UniLad in the UK . And, dear reader, it makes for some very satisfying viewing I must say.

In the footage, workers can be seen cutting down the center of the ship . Once separated, the two sections are then slowly, but surely, inched further and further apart until there’s a gaping hole in the middle of the ship.

Next, a brand new, pre-fabricated section of ship is rolled into place and slotted between the two halves. The three pieces are then joined together and the refurbishment of the ship is complete, As UniLad explains:

Some 500 skilled workers put in approximately 450,000 man hours to insert the mid section and stretch Silver Spirit from 195.8 to 210.7 meters (640 feet to 690 feet). The operation involved 846 tons of steel and 110,000 meters (68 miles) of cabling and 8,000 meters (five miles) of piping. After the work was finished the ship has had its capacity increased by about 12 percent.

Once the work was finished up, the Silver Spirit returned to the seas with its new capacity that allowed for an additional 68 passengers to hop onboard the cruise liner.

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River pilots keep ships rolling on the Columbia Subscriber Exclusive Updated 2 days ago

Columbia river pilots president explains job’s challenges, importance to region.

Maritime safety isn’t something most people thought much about before a massive cargo ship smashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Md., and killed six people one month ago .

But Columbia River pilots think about safety daily as they navigate ships — sometimes up to 1,200 feet long — around bends and under bridges.

“Safety is our No. 1 priority,” said Jeremy Nielsen, president of the Columbia River Pilots, at a Port of Vancouver presentation at Kiggins Theatre on Wednesday night. “We are going to do everything we can to avoid hitting a bridge. We will run a ship aground before we hit a bridge.”

Although ships on the Columbia River are getting bigger, he said, the river’s infrastructure hasn’t kept up with these growing vessels, making the Columbia’s already tricky navigation more challenging and less safe.

“No matter how you measure it — length, breadth, tonnage — ships these days are just getting huge,” Nielsen said.

Pilots must steer vessels under the Lewis & Clark Bridge in Longview, which poses particular challenges. First, the channel isn’t centered under the highest part of the nearly 100-year-old bridge. Ships have about 196 feet of clearance, less than the bridge’s height suggests.

The pilots recently have been guiding cruise ships under the bridge for repair at a dry dock in Portland. On one recent journey, a cruise ship’s funnel had to be partly removed before it transited the river. One ship passed under the bridge with only 4 feet to spare.

Then there’s the location of the deepwater channel, which is less than 100 feet from one of the bridge’s unprotected pillars.

After crossing under the Longview bridge, pilots must navigate their vessels quickly to the other side of the channel to keep from clipping docked ships.

Experts in the waterway

Every foreign-flagged vessel on U.S. waters must use a state-licensed pilot to navigate waterways, as well as every American vessel engaged in international trade.

“Pilotage on the Columbia River precedes statehood for both states,” Nielsen said.

Oregon pilots oversee pilotage on the Columbia. At the mouth of the river, specialized Columbia River Bar pilots board vessels and guide them to the vicinity of Astoria, Ore., where river pilots take over and bring the vessels upstream to their destination on the Columbia or Willamette rivers.

When pilots board ships, they go to the bridge and take control of navigation, using their local knowledge to ensure both the public and the ship are safe.

Nielsen said the river’s modern shipping channel was designed in the 1970s. Officials based the size of the channel off the top 10 percent of vessels coming into the river at that time.

“The vessel size they came up with was a 600-foot-long vessel, 85 feet wide and that’s what they use,” Nielsen said.

Now the average ship length is 670 feet.

“Most vessels can’t even turn around in the channel,” said Nielsen.

The channel has been deepened over the years, but it’s never been widened.

River pilots manage to drive ships down the river with 2 feet of clearance from the bottom of the channel. Most pilot groups operate with 10 percent clearance.

To do this bit of nautical gymnastics, the Columbia River Pilots use water-level forecasts from the Northwest Rivers Forecast Center, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To become fully licensed to navigate the river, Columbia River pilots must know it intimately. They can re-create the river’s nautical chart. They know about its port system and can describe the river’s navigation aids — all from memory. All the pilots must serve as tugboat captains on the river for years before they can even apply.

“We are experts in the local waterway,” Nielsen said.

As part of their training, the pilots spend around two years riding with veteran pilots.

The pilots must be able to make split-second decisions onboard — like what to do if water levels aren’t high enough to support the ship when it arrives at a certain port or what to do if the ship loses power, which is being blamed for the Baltimore crash. And those aren’t the only challenges pilots could face.

Fog and sometimes cargo can impact visibility. Ships’ crews don’t always speak English, meaning navigational commands sometimes need to be made using hand gestures or drawings. And recreational boaters can sometimes sit in a ship’s path.

Vessels coming up and down the Columbia River also aren’t always well maintained, Nielsen said. In his 11-year career as a pilot, he’s navigated through eight power failures.

But the pilots are still working to make the river safer for vessels and the public.

Nielsen travels each year to Washington, D.C., to advocate for funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep the channel clear.

And the Columbia River Pilots submitted a proposal to the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard suggesting the channel be repositioned under the Lewis & Clark Bridge.

They’re also working on getting turn-around locations established for the massive ships that can’t pivot in the channel.

“We have an amazing transportation system here,” Nielsen said. “The Columbia River is the backbone of the economy.”

The pilot pointed to the number of semi-trucks — more than 500 — it would take to replace one barge tow.

“The maritime industry is largely hidden from the public,” Nielsen said. “But the reality is, the economic benefits to everybody that it provides is tremendous.”

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