Luxury cruise ship pulled free days after getting stuck off Greenland’s coast, authorities say

FILE photo — Alison Wright/Getty Images

(LONDON) — A luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people has been pulled free days after it got stuck off the coast of Greenland, authorities said.

The Joint Arctic Command, which is part of Denmark’s defense forces, announced in a social media post on Thursday that the ship, named the Ocean Explorer, was finally pulled free at high tide in Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.

The 343-foot long and 60-foot-wide vessel, which is operated by Australia-based cruise company Aurora Expeditions, was traveling toward a remote corner of Greenland on Monday when it ran aground above the Arctic Circle near Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park, the northernmost national park in the world.

Previous attempts to free the stranded ship on Tuesday and Wednesday were unsuccessful.

It was unclear why the vessel ran aground. There were no reports of damage to the ship.

ABC News’ Jon Haworth, Will Gretsky and Emma Ogao contributed to this report.

 

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