Cruise ship Ocean Explorer may be stranded in Arctic for days after running aground
FTSep 13, 2023
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."
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.
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.
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.