A cruise ship with 206 guests and crew members ran aground in the northwest of Greenland and stayed stuck after a high tide.

Joint Arctic Command of Denmark’s Cmdr Brian Jensen said no one was in danger and that no impairment was reported, but also added that officials “take the incident seriously”.

The units are far away, and the weather can be unfavourable, he explained in a statement.

He pointed out that the closest Danish navy vessel was nearly 1,200 nm away, adding that it was headed to the site and might be expected at the grounded vessel as soon as Friday.

The Ocean Explorer, which measures 104 meters long and 18 meters wide, ran aground on Monday in the Northeast Greenland National Park in Alpefjord. It is the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is famous for its icebergs and musk oxen that roam on the coast.

The Bahamas-flagged Norwegian vessel reportedly belongs to the Ulstein Group in Ulsteinvik in southern Norway.

Relevant authorities have contacted another cruise vessel in the area and asked to stay nearby to assist if required. The other cruise vessel could not be identified.

The grounded cruise vessel may get free when the tide is high, Greenland television KNR mentioned.

On Tuesday, the Joint Arctic Command mentioned on Facebook that the vessel was stuck irrespective of the tide.

It added that there are no reports that human lives or the environment are in danger.

The Joint Arctic Command aims to establish Danish sovereignty by supervising the area around Greenland and the Faroe Islands, two semi-independent territories in the Danish realm.

References: The Guardian, Reuters, Bloomberg

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