Greenland: Cruise Ship Stranded After Running Aground is Freed

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Facts

  • Three days after it ran aground in Alpefjord, a remote part of Northest Greenland National Park, a cruise ship carrying 206 passengers and crew was pulled free on Thursday. The ship's owner stated that it was freed 'based on a pull' from a fisheries vessel as well as the ship's 'own power.'1
  • The $33K-per-passenger ship, which is called the Ocean Explorer and is operated by Australian cruise company Aurora Expeditions, began its three-week voyage to Greenland on Sept. 1 and was scheduled to return on Sept. 22.2
  • However, the luxury vessel became stuck in mud and silt roughly 1,400 km (870 miles) from Denmark's capital Nuuk. Before being freed, it received one failed rescue attempt from a fishing trawler and an inspection by the Danish military's Joint Arctic Command (JAC).3
  • Greenland's picturesque coast is a popular destination for cruise ships including the 104-metre (341-foot) Ocean Explorer, which the Sunstone Group website reports has 77 cabins and several restaurants onboard.4
  • Though it's been confirmed that two passengers on the ship have contracted COVID, according to Aurora Expeditions both of them have been isolated and are 'doing well.' Passengers are believed to be from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the US, and South Korea, among other nations.5

Sources: 1Abc news, 2New York Post, 3Reuters, 4Al Jazeera and 5Guardian.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Ft. This incident underscores the effect that increasingly popular Arctic tourism risks posing to the environment. While companies profiteer from the willingness of the most privileged to pay significant sums to experience the Arctic in luxury, the question must be asked whether these sorts of excursions are really justifiable.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Washington Post. Ocean Explorer has been clear that the ship poses no threat to the environment and that passengers have been receiving all medical treatment necessary. However, given that the Ocean Explorer is presented by its company's website as being designed to handle remote destinations, it must be investigated why this occurred in the first place.