L’Ocean Explorer this September 12 in Greenland. DANISH AIR FORCE/ARCTIC COMMAND / REUTERS
While it was hoped it would help free it, Tuesday’s tide failed to lift the ship enough to free it. The nearest ship is only a few days away.
L’Ocean Explorer, the cruise ship with 206 people on board stranded in a remote part of eastern Greenland, was still stuck on Wednesday, as the Joint Arctic Command of the Danish army reported. While it was hoped it would help free it, Tuesday’s tide failed to lift the ship enough to free it. There are few hydrographic surveys of the area where the boat ran aground, making it difficult to assess sea depths. The nearest rescue ship is only a few days away.
L’Ocean Explorer ran aground Monday in the Alpefjord, some 1,400 km northeast of the Arctic territory’s capital, Nuuk. The circumstances of the incident have not yet been determined. “The incident did not cause any injuries and the ship was not damaged.“, Camilla Schouw Broholm, of the Arctic Command, told AFP.
The expedition cruise company which operates the boat, the Australian Aurora Expeditions, wants to reassure passengers and staff “are safe on board”. “There is no immediate danger to them, the ship or the environment,” she assured in a press release. Photos taken Tuesday by a Danish Air Force plane show theOcean Explorer in calm waters, under a bright sun.
A patrol boat on the way
Arctic Command, including the patrol boat Knud Rasmussen expected to reach the area on Friday, is also in contact with other nearby cruise ships as well as the Icelandic Coast Guard, which could intervene if theOcean Explorer requested immediate help.
Greenland, a semi-sovereign territory of Denmark with just 57,000 inhabitants, attracts tourists with its rugged landscape and vast ice cap that covers much of the island.
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