One Ocean Expeditions says all passengers from the Russian-flagged Akademik Ioffe arrived back in Edmonton, Alberta after being rescued when the vessel ran aground along Canada’s Arctic Northwest Passage.
The vessel operator diverted the Ioffe’s sistership, the Akademik Sergey Vavilov, to assist in the Gulf of Boothia rescue.
One Ocean says in a tweet that the passengership remains at anchor at the request of Transport Canada.
It said: "One ocean will continue to assist the ship’s owner, the Coast Guard, and all other federal and territorial partners involved as they collect facts relevant to the grounding.”
The 6,450 gt Akademik Ioffe (built 1989) is listed by Equasis as managed by Moscow’s Shirshov Institute and classed by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
It is reported to have had 162 people on board during a Royal Canadian Geographical Society-partnered expedition when it ran aground last Friday.
The Canadian Coast Guard sent two icebreakers, the CCGS Pierre Radisson and CCGS Amundsen to assist.
Canada-based One Ocean says the grounding caused no environmental damage.
The expedition cruise company’s general manager Catherine Lawton is quoted as saying that hull damage was limited to ballast tanks and the vessel was in no immediate danger.
Weather conditions at the time were said to be calm and crew managed to refloat the ice-strengthened vessel.
Sistership Akademik Sergey Vavilov transferred passengers using Zodiac boats before taking them to Kugaruuk on the shore of Pelly Bay.
“All passengers remain safe and are well cared for,” said the operator in a statement.Its latest tweet says passengers have now travelled onwards from Edmonton to their home destinations.
The two sisterships double as research vessels. One Ocean’s operations enable, says Lawton, “world class scientific research and educational programming in co-operation with partners such as the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and on this specific voyage, the Northwest Passage Project.”
She says the company would continue to assist with research into such aspects as climate trends, ice patterns and the impact of micro-plastics on oceans.
One Ocean says decisions on the Akademik Ioffe’s next port of call is the responsibility of the ship’s owner in consultation with the Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada officials.
“Out of respect for the review process, that is now underway, One Ocean will have no further public comment at this time,” it said.
The grounding follows the 4,400-gt cruiseship Clipper Adventurer (built 1975) hitting an unchartered rock shelf in 2010 in Coronation Gulf, part of Canada’s Arctic archipelago.
Canada’s Coast Guard vessel Amundsen had to rescue its 128 passengers.
The incidents come as concern grows at the increase in traffic along the Northwest Passage, above the US and Canada, including small cruiseships and pleasure craft.Similar worries for the environment involve the Northern Sea Route above Siberia.
It is anticipated that the routes will be open for a total of 125 days by 2050 because of climate change.They are only clear of ice currently for around 50 days a year.
