Expedition cruise ship runs aground in Greenland fjord

An AE Expeditions’ luxury expedition cruise ship, the Ocean Explorer, ran aground on Monday 11 September in Alpefjord in Northeast Greenland National Park.

The park has no permanent residents and is 950 miles away from Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.

It was hoped that the high tide on Tuesday 12 September would free the ship, but it ‘did not provide the needed help to sail on’, so the ship remains stuck.

All 206 passengers are said to be safe, however a rescue vessel is not expected for days yet – it is reported to be 1,200 nautical miles away and unlikely to be there until Friday 15 September.

Commander Brian Jensen, of Arctic Command, said: “It is a long way from immediate help, our units are far from [the ship] and the weather can be very unfavourable.

“However, we do not see acute danger to human life or the environment. Of course, we are following the situation closely and take this incident very seriously.”

Arctic Command is reportedly sending aircraft to assess the Ocean Explorer’s position and has alerted other ships in the area to the situation and asked them to provide possible assistance.

Jensen added: “They can either try to get out under their own steam when the tide is high, get help from a nearby cruise ship, get assistance from Knud Rasmussen, or help from one of our collaborators. No matter what, the most important thing for us is that everyone arrives safe.”