The rescue team is not expected to arrive until Friday.
A Norwegian cruise ship with 206 people on board has run aground in northwestern Greenland, authorities said Tuesday.
With the closest Danish Defence ship over 2,000km away, help is not expected to arrive until Friday.
“Our units are far away, and the weather can be very unfavourable,” said Cmdr Brian Jensen of the Joint Arctic Command.
No one on board the cruise ship is in danger and no damage has been reported, authorities said.
When will cruise passengers be rescued in Greenland?
The Bahamas-flagged cruise ship has 206 passengers and crew aboard.
When it ran aground, the closest Danish navy ship was about 1,200 nautical miles (more than 2,000 kilometres) away, according to Jensen. It is heading to the site and is expected at the grounded ship by Friday at the earliest.
The Joint Arctic Command is a joint operational territorial command of the Danish Defence operating in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. As well as protecting the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark in the Arctic Region, it carries out search and rescue missions, research and pollution prevention tasks in the region.
Jensen said in a statement there is no immediate danger to human life or the environment, but that officials “take this incident very seriously”.
The 104.4-metre-long and 18-metre-wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It’s the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast.
The ship belongs to Ulstein Group in Ulsteinvik, southern Norway.
Are any other ships helping with the rescue?
Authorities have been in contact with another cruise ship in the area and it had been asked to remain nearby to assist should the situation develop. The other cruise ship was not identified.
The grounded cruise ship might also get free on its own when the tide is high, Greenland television KNR reported. “Regardless, the most important thing for us is that everyone gets to safety,” Jensen said.
ADVERTISEMENTLater on Tuesday, the Joint Arctic Command said on its Facebook page that the ship was still stuck despite the tide.
“There are still no reports that human life or the environment is in acute danger,” Joint Arctic Command said.
‘A difficult situation’
In a further update on Wednesday, it added that it has sent personnel from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol on board the grounded cruise ship, who gave assurance that the crew and passengers of Ocean Explorer are in “good condition”. If needed, Sirius personnel can reach the accident site within an hour and a half.
“The crew and passengers are in a difficult situation,” they added, “but after the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good and everyone on board is fine.
“There are no indications that the ship has suffered serious damage from the foundation.”
ADVERTISEMENTAn inspection vessel is still heading towards the cruise ship, where it is still expected to arrive on Friday morning.
The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, two semi-independent territories that are part of the Danish realm.
Source: Euro News
