Table Of Content
- New train line proposed for Spanish coast linking seaside cities
- A luxury cruise ship is pulled free 3 days after running aground in Greenland
- The unexpected link between imperiled whales and Greenland's melting ice
- GREENLAND FROM NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE
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- Greenlandic women sue Danish state for contraceptive ‘violation’
A walk through the colonial harbor district in Nuuk offers insights into the evolution of Greenland from a Danish colony to a self-governing entity. The local communities in Ittoqqortoormiit and Upernavik retain their traditional way of life, offering a glimpse into the harmonious co-existence of humans and nature. This applies to, for example, Ilulissat with the UNESCO-protected ice fjord, and also occasionally to Qeqertarsuaq on the formerly volcanic Disko Island, where dog sledding on Lyngmarksbræen is possible during the summer.
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Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape with fjords, musk oxen, and the waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea. Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape, waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea. Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland's coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape, waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea. The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle on Monday in Alpefjord, which is in the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s northernmost national park. The park is nearly the size of France and Spain combined, and approximately 80 per cent is permanently covered by an ice sheet. Alpefjord sits about 240 kilometres (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) from the country’s capital, Nuuk.
A luxury cruise ship is pulled free 3 days after running aground in Greenland
The Danish Maritime Authority asked police in Greenland to investigate why the ship ran aground and whether any laws had been violated, a police statement said, adding that no one has been charged or arrested. An officer has been on board the ship to carry out “initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board,” it said. It said the cruise ship and its passengers will now travel to a port where the damage to the vessel’s bottom can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a location from where they can be flown home. There was no immediate comment from the tour company that organized the trip, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions.
The unexpected link between imperiled whales and Greenland's melting ice
"Now it is exciting to find out what the condition of the ship is," Jensen was quoted as saying by KNR. "They are in the process of investigating whether the ship is intact and seaworthy and ready to sail on." Cmdr. Brian Jensen of the Joint Arctic Command told Greenland broadcaster KNR that the ship is likely to go to Iceland, the closest place with large ports. Rescue efforts aren't expected to reach the scene until Friday, but a military flight over the ship confirmed its hull is intact, there is no oil spilling from the vessel, and there have been no injuries.
GREENLAND FROM NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE
There are few hydrological surveys of the area where the cruise ship ran aground, making it difficult to assess the sea depths. The ships typically have the cultural town of Qaqortoq in South Greenland as a port of call and sometimes also the country’s biggest town and one of the world’s smallest capitals, Nuuk. The cruise line said the passengers missed the "all aboard time of 3 p.m. local time." It said it was a "very unfortunate situation" but that passengers were responsible for being on time. The grounded cruise ship might also get free on its own when the tide is high, Greenland television KNR reported. "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," JAC head of operations Commander Brian Jensen said in the statement.
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Cmdr Brian Jensen of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command said that nobody on board was in danger and that no damage has been reported, but added that officials “take this incident very seriously”. “All other passengers, Expedition team and crew remain safe and healthy,” Ocean Explorer officials said in a Wednesday statement. The ship's owner said several other vessels had rushed to the scene "and offered their assistance, which however, was not needed." It said it had also "arranged additional tug assistance in case it was needed, however, this has now been canceled." Greenland, a semi-sovereign territory of Denmark in the North Atlantic Ocean with a population of just 57,000, attracts tourists with its rugged landscape and a vast ice cap that covers much of the island. The Ocean Explorer will be taken to a port to assess any damage, while the passengers will be flown home, said SunStone. The Joint Arctic Command confirmed that the ship had been pulled free by the Tarajoq, a trawler and research vessel that made a failed attempt to do so on Wednesday.
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In total, WPDE said that nine passengers were not allowed to reenter the ship, including four elderly people and one person who is a paraplegic. A couple says they were stranded on a small African island after they missed a cruise ship's boarding deadline, according to local media. A representative for Aurora Expeditions, the cruise ship's operator, told Insider that everyone on board the vessel was safe and well. "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," Jensen said.
Cruise ship carrying 206 people runs aground in Greenland - NECN
Cruise ship carrying 206 people runs aground in Greenland.
Posted: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
"There have not been any injuries to anybody onboard, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull,” SunStone Ships said in a statement. Many of the passengers on board are believed to be Australian, along with a mix of tourists from other countries including New Zealand, Britain, the United States and South Korea. Hill said after the crew alerted passengers that there were confirmed cases of Covid, some passengers had chosen to wear masks in the public areas, but others had not. She said the passengers were in good spirits and were being entertained by lectures and stories of expeditions by the crew.
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It offers trips to "some of the most wild and remote destinations on the planet", Aurora Expeditions said on its website. Earlier Thursday, Aurora Expeditions said that three passengers had become infected with COVID-19 on the ship. There was no immediate comment from the tour company that organised the trip, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions. Jensen told Greenland broadcaster KNR that the ship is likely to go to Iceland, the closest place with large ports. Alpefjord is about 240 km from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which is nearly 1,400 km from the country’s capital, Nuuk. On Wednesday, a research ship owned by the Greenland government unsuccessfully attempted to pull the ship off ground during high tide.
"However, in this specific situation, we do not see any immediate danger to human life or the environment, which is reassuring," he added. The cruise liner began its latest trip on Sept. 2 in Kirkenes, in Arctic Norway, and was due to return to Bergen, Norway, on Sept. 22, according to SunStone Ships. The name of the research ship was Tarajoq and it belongs to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a government agency. The cruise liner began its current trip on 2 September in Kirkenes in Arctic Norway and was due to return to Bergen, Norway, on 22 September, according to SunStone Ships. The park is nearly the size of France and Spain combined, and approximately 80 per cent is covered by an ice sheet. The 104.4-metre-long and 18-metre-wide Ocean Explorer ran aground in Alpefjord, above the Arctic Circle in the Northeast Greenland National Park.
The Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in a national park 870 miles (1,400km) northeast of Greenland's capital Nuuk, the Danish military's Joint Arctic Command (JAC) said. The successful rescue operation took place on Thursday, three days after the MV Ocean Explorer ran aground with 206 people on board, authorities and the ship's owner said. The Danish military’s joint arctic command confirmed that the ship had been pulled free by the Tarajoq, a trawler and research vessel that made a failed attempted to do so on Wednesday. “We have just successfully become free now … we are absolutely elated,” Gina Hill, an Australian passenger onboard the ship, told Reuters on Thursday. The Ocean Explorer leaned to the side during the operation and passengers were not allowed to go outside, Hill said. Greenland cruises are the ideal way to see the world and you can see a selection of these cruises from Norwegian Cruise Line.
Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faroe Islands. They are looked after by our onboard doctor, medical team and crew, and they are doing well,” Aurora Expeditions said in a statement. Greenland, a semi-sovereign territory of Denmark in the north Atlantic with a population of just 57,000, attracts tourists with its rugged landscape and a vast ice cap that covers much of the island. The Ocean Explorer was built in 2021 and is owned by Copenhagen SunStone Ships, which is part of Denmark’s SunStone Group. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants, according to the Sunstone Group website. The people onboard “are in a difficult situation, but given the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good, and everyone on board is doing well.
Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands. “We have just successfully become free now … We are absolutely elated,” Gina Hill, an Australian passenger on board the ship, told Reuters on Thursday. For an increasingly large number of polar cruisers, Greenland and Svalbard in Norway have become the most popular destinations for Arctic tourism. The Joint Arctic Command, which is part of Denmark’s defense forces, and SunStone Maritime Group, the coordinators of the rescue operation, said in statements on Thursday that the ship had been pulled free by a vessel named Tarajoq. The coastal ship Sarfaq Ittuk sails from southern Greenland up along Greenland’s west coast to Disko Bay. Cruise ship tourism in Greenland is still in its infancy, and there are lots of places in the country that cruise ship guests have not yet seen.
The ship was freed by a fisheries research vessel at high tide, said the cruise ship’s owner, Copenhagen-based SunStone Ships, and the Joint Arctic Command, which coordinated the operation. It said the cruise ship and its passengers will now travel to a port where the damage to the vessel's bottom can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a location from where they can be flown home. The Ocean Explorer cruise vessel was refloated on Thursday, the Danish navy and ship owner said, after having been stuck since Monday in mud and silt in the Alpefjord national park, some 1,400km (870 miles) northeast of Greenland’s capital Nuuk. These cruise ships usually try to sail through Greenland’s perhaps most beautiful fjord, Prince Christians Sound in South Greenland – if the mouth of the fjord is not blocked by large icebergs. The Ocean Explorer will be taken to a port to assess any damage, while the passengers will be flown home, said SunStone Maritime Group, which owns the cruise vessel.
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