The 341-foot cruise luxury cruise ship stranded for days in the freezing Arctic after running aground off the coast of Greenland was finally freed amid fears of a potential COVID-19 outbreak on board. The Ocean Explorer, carrying 206 passengers and crew, got stuck in the mud a few days ago in the waters about 870 miles from Greenland’s capital Nuuk. A fishing research vessel managed to dislodge the liner, whose mostly elderly passengers had paid $33,000 for the 21-day cruise.
Three people aboard the Ocean Explorer who had tested positive for COVID-19 were placed in isolation. They are currently recuperating.
The Ocean Explorer’s crew made two failed attempts to get the vessel to float free on its own during high tide — fuelling fears that it would be stranded for an extended period of time. The nearest Danish navy vessels were days away and bad weather delayed an inspection of the ship from arriving until Friday evening at the earliest. However fishing vessel Tarajoq, owned by Greenland’s government, managed to help pull the massive cruise ship out of the mud and silt that had immobilised it. The vessel and its passengers will now be positioned to a port where the vessel’s bottom damages can be assessed and the passengers will be taken to a port from which they can be flown back home