Ship runs aground in the Fjords

The Marco Polo has suffered damage to it’s hull when it ran aground in a remote Norwegian fjord north of the Arctic Circle at the start of this week.

The 22,080-ton, 800-passenger  Cruise and Maritime Voyages vessel struck an uncharted rock as it was leaving Sortland, Norway, under the command of a local pilot.

Hugo Naess, Port Director for the Port of Sortland, expressed surprise over the grounding: “This has never happened before in the 15 years I have worked at the port, and about 2,200 different ships per year use the port. The Norwegian Coastal Administration are responsible for the correct charts, and they will be investigating the incident.”

No injuries were reported in the incident, and Marco Polo immediately returned to the port for a damage assessment. Following inspection, preliminary repairs were made to the hull, and the ship was  origianlly cleared to carry on with the remainder of its 14-night cruise. However the cruise has since been terminated for the ship to be repaired and her passengers flown home from Stavenger airport.

This is the second incident in the Fjords in as many weeks. Last week the Hurtigruten ship Kong Harald also struck a submerged rock at the entrance to Trollfjord and needed to wait for the tide to come in before she could lift off the rock. Again the remainder of the cruise was cancelled whilst repairs were made.
Let’s hope that is it now for maritime dangers in the Fjords, or indeed anywhere.