A luxury expedition ship carrying 206 passengers, 90 of them
Australian, is stranded in a remote area of Greenland, and is awaiting
help after failing to refloat on high tides this week.
The Norwegian-owned Ocean Explorer became stuck by a mixture of
sediment, sand and silt left by a nearby glacier in Alpefjord in the
northeast Greenland national park. Two attempts to refloat the vessel
were unsuccessful.
Brian Jensen of the Danish military’s Joint Arctic Command in the
Greenland capital, Nuuk, told Bloomberg, “Our main priority is the
safety of the persons on board. It’s very isolated. We’re in the
national park, north-eastern Greenland, there’s no population.
“Luckily, it’s calm and we have time on our side as there’s no imminent threat of a storm.”
The ship is being operated by Sydney-based Aurora Expeditions which
said in a statement that all passengers, the expedition team and crew
onboard were safe and well.
“Importantly, there is no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel, or the surrounding environment.”
On its website, Aurora Expeditions says its Arctic voyages are “full
of life changing adventures across the wildest and most remote
destinations around the globe”.
And it tells clients, “Your safety is a critical consideration, and
our ships feature industry-leading safety technology that exceeds the
requirements for ships of this size.”