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Image: Joint Artic Command

Ninety Australians On Board Grounded Cruise Ship In Greenland

Ninety Australians are among the 206 passengers on board a luxury cruise ship that has run aground in a remote part of northeast Greenland.

The Ocean Explorer, an Australian cruise ship, ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord at a national park 1,400km northeast of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital.

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Its grounding was caused by sand and mud, and despite several attempts at hide tide, has failed to pull itself free.

There are no reports of any injuries to passengers and crew on board.

Danish military’s Joint Artic Command said the nearest help would be days away.

A Danish naval vessel is expected at high tide on Friday to pull free the ship, while members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol visited the ship to “[calm] down” escalating fears of passengers.

“They explained the situation which calmed them down as some were anxious,” Captain Flemming Madsen of the Joint Artic Command said.

On Thursday morning, AEST, the Joint Artic Command said another attempt was made to free the Ocean Explorer, yet unsuccessful again.

“This morning local time, the Institute of Nature’s fishing research ship TARAJOQ, owned by Greenland’s Self-Government, arrived to the grounded cruise ship Ocean Explorer in the national park in northeast Greenland,” the social media post said.

“After preliminary investigations and contact between the two ships, TARAJOQ attempted to pull Ocean Explorer off the ground at high tide. Unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, which is why the situation is still so that Ocean Explorer is grounded in the Alpefjord.”

Regular updates can be found on the Joint Artic Command Facebook page.

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