Luxury cruise ship freed in the Arctic after 3 on board test positive for COVID
The luxury cruise ship stranded for days in the freezing Arctic after running aground off the coast of Greenland was freed Thursday amid fears of a potential COVID-19 outbreak on board.
The Ocean Explorer, carrying 206 passengers and crew, got stuck in the mud Monday in the waters off Alpefjord, the world’s northernmost national park, about 870 miles from Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
A fishing research vessel managed to dislodge the liner, whose mostly elderly passengers paid $33,000 for the 21-day cruise, Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command said.
“There have not been any injuries to any person on board, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull,” SunStone, the cruise liner’s Florida-based owner, said in a press release.
At least three passengers on board were placed in isolation after they tested positive for COVID-19, according to the ship’s operator, Aurora Expeditions.
They are “doing well,” the company said.
The Ocean Explorer’s crew made two failed attempts to get the ship to float free on its own during high tide — fueling fears that it would be stranded for an extended period of time.
The nearest Danish navy vessels were days away, and bad weather delayed an inspection of the ship from arriving until Friday evening at the earliest.
However, the fishing vessel Tarajoq, owned by Greenland’s government, managed to help pull the 341-foot cruise ship out of the mud and silt that had immobilized it.
“The vessel and its passengers will now be positioned to a port where the vessel’s bottom damages can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a port from which they can be flown back home,” a SunStone spokesperson said.
The company did not specify at which port the cruise liner, which boasts 10 different types of suites in addition to a gym, wellness center and spa, will dock.
The national park where the Ocean Explorer got stuck covers 603,973 square miles, almost as much land as France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is permanently covered by an ice sheet, according to the Visit Greenland tourism board.
On Aurora Expeditions’ website, 30-day cruises will run passengers as much as $38,895 per person.
Its next voyage, a 12-day trip set to depart Oct. 30 from Argentina to Antarctica, costs $13,395 per passenger.
Additional reporting by Shannon Thaler
