Cruise ship hit rock

in ‘un-chartered’ Arctic

Tour operator Adventure Canada said a cruise ship struck an uncharted rock in the Arctic Ocean forcing the evacuation of more than 100 passengers and crew. The Clipper Adventurer crashed into the rock on Friday 27 August 2010 after it set out from Kugluktuk, Nunavut for a 12-day voyage through the Northwest Passage. None of the 110 passengers onboard were injured. It took two days for the Canadian coast guard icebreaker Amundsen to arrive at the scene to evacuate passengers, drawing calls for Canada to update its search and rescue capabilities in the far north due to increasing traffic. According to Adventure Canada, charts indicated a depth of 68 meters (220 feet) where the ship ran aground. The double hulled ship has a system of partitions and secure hatches that would have prevented it from sinking. Crew pumped out any water that did leak in. Another vessel has been dispatched to tow it back to port.