Luxury cruise liner runs aground: 200 stranded for days after ship gets stuck
The Ocean Explorer cruise ship has become stuck
DANISH AIR FORCE/ARCTIC COMMAND/HANDOUT/REUTERS
A cruise ship with more than 200 people on board has run aground off the coast of Greenland.
The Ocean Explorer became stuck on Monday in the Northeast Greenland National Park.
It was stuck in a particularly rugged stretch of Greenland and has not been able to become free.
Now, passengers on board must wait until they can get help from nearby ships.
It hit Northeast Greenland National Park
DANISH AIR FORCE/ARCTIC COMMAND/HANDOUT/REUTERS
This could take days and the incident is being taken very seriously.
The nearest unit able to go out and help was 1,200 nautical miles away when the incident took place.
This means it is likely those on board will be waiting until at least Friday to receive help.
Denmark's Joint Arctic Command (JAC) head of operations Commander Brian Jensen said in a statement: "A cruise ship in trouble in the national park is obviously a worry.
"The nearest help is far away, our units are far away, and the weather can be very unfavourable.
"However, in this specific situation, we do not see any immediate danger to human life or the environment, which is reassuring."
No one on board has been injured and they are all safe and well, it has been confirmed.
The Ocean Explorer is a luxury cruise ship that holds just 134 passengers.
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There are 206 people on board, including the staff of the ship. The vessel is 104 metres long.
A statement from JAC posted on Facebook added: "On Monday afternoon West Greenlandic time, the Arctic Command received a message that the cruise ship Ocean Explorer was grounded in the Alpefjord in Northeast Greenland, and that the ship is not immediately able to be freed by its own help."
Brian Jensen continued: "They can either try to get out on their own help when the tide becomes high, they can get help from a nearby cruise ship, they can get assistance from Knud Rasmussen, or they can get help of one of our collaborators.
"No matter what, the most important thing for us is that everyone arrives safe.”
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