Stranded cruise ship the Ocean Explorer freed three days after running aground in Greenland
A luxury cruise ship has been freed after it ran aground in northwestern Greenland.
The Ocean Explorer – which has 206 passengers on board – got stuck in mud and silt on Monday in Alpefjord, a national park 870 miles (1,400km) northeast of Greenland’s capital Nuuk, the Danish military’s Joint Arctic Command (JAC) said.
After three failed attempts to free the ship, it was “successfully” pulled free by a fishing vessel, Tarajoq, at high tide.
SunStone Ships, the vessel’s owner, said the ship will be taken to a port to assess any damage, while the passengers will be flown home.
“There have not been any injuries to any person onboard, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull,” SunStone said in a statement.
The ship has 77 cabins and several restaurants. Pic: AP
Before the rescue, the JAC had sent its larger inspection vessel, Knud Rasmussen, to the site, which was expected to arrive on Friday evening.
‘Everyone’s in good spirits’
The Ocean Explorer, which is operated by Australia-based Aurora Expeditions, left the Norwegian port of Bronnoysund on 6 September, according to tracking data from MarineTraffic.com.
The ship has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew.
There are also several restaurants, an infinity pool and a two-level lounge with a piano bar and panoramic windows at the bow of the ship, according to Ulstein, the company that built it.
Satellite image of stranded ship. Pic: Copernicus EU
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Some of those on board are from Australia, UK, New Zealand, US and South Korea, and were described by passengers Steven Fraser and Gina Hill as “a lot of wealthy older people”.
Tracking data of Ocean Explorer
Earlier on Thursday, the retired couple from Australia told the Sydney Morning Herald that “everyone’s in good spirits”.
“It’s a little bit frustrating, but we are in a beautiful part of the world,” Mr Fraser was quoted as saying.
Mr Fraser said he was one of a number of passengers who had tested positive for COVID, but there is a doctor on board.
Pic: AP
Lisa, another passenger, told CNN that her biggest fear at the moment is running out of alcohol, but if the worst did happen, she had a back-up plan.
“I had swimming lessons before I came and I’m a good swimmer,” she said.
“So look out: I could be swimming back to Iceland.”
The nearest settlement is 149 miles away. Pic: AP
Members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol – a Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness – were in the vicinity of the stranded ship.
They visited on Tuesday and reported that everyone on board was fine and no damage to the vessel had been reported.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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