COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people has run aground in remote eastern Greenland and the nearest help by sea is days away, the Danish military’s Joint Arctic Command said on Tuesday.
JAC said in a statement that the ship Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Albfjord in a national park about 1,400 kilometers northeast of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
JAC said there were no reports of injuries.
“Obviously having a cruise ship in trouble in a national park is concerning. The nearest help is far away, our units are far away, and the weather can be very unsuitable,” JAC’s operations commander, Commander Brian Jensen, said in the statement. .
He added, “But in this particular situation, we do not see any direct danger to human life or the environment, which is reassuring.”
A spokesperson for Australian cruise company Aurora Expeditions said in an emailed statement that everyone on board was safe and well.
JAC said its closest unit was an inspection vessel about 1,200 nautical miles away at the time of the incident, meaning it could reach the grounded ship by Friday morning local time at the earliest.
Arctic Command said it has asked a cruise ship located near Ocean Explorer to remain in the area so it can assist if the situation changes.
The Ocean Explorer ship, completed in 2021, can seat up to 134 passengers and offers trips to “some of the wildest and most remote destinations on the planet,” Aurora Expeditions said on its website.
Reporting by Louise Brosch Rasmussen, Editing by Terje Solsvik and Nick Macfie
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