Seatrade Cruise News is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Ponant-hired tour boat carrying 26 sinks in Greenland

Ponant-hired tour boat carrying 26 sinks in Greenland
An investigation is under way following a tour boat accident in Greenland that plunged 23 pasengers and three crew members from Ponant's L'Austral into icy water. Everyone was rescued, and no injuries were reported.

The boat, locally hired by Ponant, sank Sunday in the Ilulissat Icefjord on Greenland's west coast.

It went down just 100 meters from L'Austral, which quickly dispatched Zodiacs to rescue those in the water, a Ponant spokesperson in France told Seatrade Cruise News.

Local boats pitched in, too, according to The Arctic Journal that said police investigators believe the tour boat struck something or was struck before it sank. They said no other vessel was involved. 

Ilulissat Icefjord is one of the world's northernmost UNESCO World Heritage Sites.