UPDATED: Passengers headed home after Squamish tour company vessel ran aground in the Arctic

The passengers who were on a One Ocean Expeditions' ship that ran aground in the Arctic Friday have now landed in Edmonton and are on the final leg of their trips home.

Friday morning, the ship, the Akademik Ioffe, became grounded in the western Gulf of Boothia, in the Canadian Arctic.

The 117-metre long vessel, which was launched in 1989, can accommodate 96 passengers and 65 crew, according to One Ocean’s website.

There was no word on damage to the vessel or how the ship ran around.

There was no environmental damage, the polar tour company’s spokesperson said.

By Saturday morning, the company reported that all passengers had been safely transferred by zodiac to the Akademik Sergey Vavilov, a sister vessel to the one which ran aground. They disembarked at Kugaaruk, Nunavut and were then flown out to Edmonton.

 

Sad to hear about @oneoceanexp ship #AkademikIoffe running aground off #Nunavut on Friday but great that all passengers and crew got off safely and that it has since been refloated. Hopefully damage is minor and it will soon be back cruising again. This is from my East Coast #Canada cruise last month

A post shared by Peter Ellegard (@peterellegard) on Aug 26, 2018 at 8:38am PDT

Also on Saturday, the Akademik Ioffe was floated and a full vessel systems check was successfully performed, according to the company, which is headquartered on Second Avenue in downtown Squamish.

Decisions regarding the ship’s next port of call and the repair of any damage are the responsibility of the ship’s owner in consultation with the Coast Guard and Transport Canada officials, according to a One Ocean spokesperson.

“One Ocean will continue to assist the ship’s owners, the Coast Guard, and all other federal and territorial partners involved as they collect facts relevant to the grounding,” read a statement from the company on Monday night.
 “We want to express our gratitude to the many individuals serving in the Coast Guard and other government agencies and departments who have been involved. We appreciate their dedicated professionalism,” said Lawton.

Two of the company’s other upcoming polar expeditions have been cancelled.
“We can confirm the Akademik Ioffe Aug. 23 — Pathways to Franklin — and Sept. 1 Classic Northwest Passage and Greenland voyages have been cancelled to allow [the] assessment and repair to take place,” read the news release from One Ocean.

 

**Please note, The Chief has continued to update this story as it evolved.