HELSINKI
\nA fish trawler\u2019s attempt to free a luxury cruise ship that ran aground two days ago in a remote part of Greenland has failed, leaving the vessel and the 206 people on board still stranded, Denmark\u2019s armed forces said on Wednesday.
\nThe Ocean Explorer has since Monday been stuck in mud and silt in the Alpefjord national park, some 1,400 km (870 miles) northeast of Greenland\u2019s capital Nuuk, the Danish military\u2019s Joint Arctic Command (JAC) said.
\nThe large trawler sought to pull the cruise ship free during Wednesday\u2019s high tide, but the attempt ultimately failed, the JAC said in a statement.
\nArmed forces personnel stationed in Greenland have inspected the Ocean Explorer and spoken to those on board, concluding that they were in good condition.
\n\u201cThe crew and passengers are in a difficult situation, but under the circumstances the atmosphere on the ship is good and everyone on board is doing well,\u201d the JAC said.
\nThe Danish navy\u2019s Knud Rasmussen patrol vessel was expected to arrive at the Alpefjord site on Friday afternoon, the JAC said.
\n\u201cIf everything goes well, they will help the ship get out of this emergency that they\u2019re in at this moment. But it depends on how everything looks when they arrive on Friday so we need to see how it goes,\u201d a JAC spokesperson said.
\nThe passengers and crew remained safe on board, Australian cruise operator Aurora Expeditions said earlier.
\nThere is no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel or the surrounding environment,\u201d Sydney-based Aurora said in a statement.
\nPhotos taken by the Danish military showed the Ocean Explorer sitting upright in calm waters with the sun shining.
\nGreenland, a semi-sovereign territory of Denmark in the North Atlantic Ocean with a population of just 57,000, attracts tourists with its rugged landscape and a vast ice cap that covers much of the island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HELSINKI A fish trawler\u2019s attempt to free a luxury cruise ship that ran aground two days ago in a remote part of Greenland has failed, leaving the vessel and the 206 people on board still stranded, Denmark\u2019s armed forces said on Wednesday. The Ocean Explorer has since Monday been stuck in mud and silt in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n