On the morning of August 24, 2018, Akademik Ioffe, one of the vessels in the One Ocean Expeditions’ fleet, became grounded in the western Gulf of Boothia, in the Canadian Arctic.
All passengers and crew are safe, with no injuries and no environmental concerns reported. The vessel was re-floated and a successful disembarkation by zodiac took place.
As per standard procedure, the Captain of Akademik Ioffe engaged all relevant Federal and Territorial agencies. Akademik Sergey Vavilov (Akademik Ioffe’s sister vessel) was within closest proximity and proceeded to the area to provide any support and assistance required.
All passengers from Akademik Ioffe arrived safely in Kugaaruk, Nunavut on board the Akademik Sergey Vavilov and have been flown to Edmonton, Alberta for onward travel.
Since the grounding, the team at One Ocean Expeditions has been working continuously with the ship’s Captain, the ship’s owners as well as the Coast Guard and other partners to ensure the safe onward journey of their passengers.
In consultation with Coast Guard officials and the ship’s owner, Akademik loffe is awaiting confirmation of her next port of call where repairs to any damage from the grounding will be undertaken. There remains no indication of any environmental impact from the grounding of the vessel.
“We would like to extend sincere thanks to all of our guests for their patience and understanding. We will be in touch with each of them in the days ahead. We also wish to thank our staff team and the Captain and crew of Akademik loffe for their fast and professional response to the grounding. Finally, 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 Catherine Lawton, One Ocean Expeditions’ General Manager.
“We are also relieved that there has been no environmental impact related to the incident. We are a mission-oriented company that cares very much about our country and being a steward of our natural environment. We are proud to be enabling world-class scientific research and educational programming in cooperation with partners such as the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and on this specific voyage, the Northwest Passage Project. From research into climate trends, ice patterns, and the impact of micro-plastics on our oceans, we look forward to carrying on this important work,” she added.
“In the days and weeks ahead, we will continue to assist the ship’s owners and government agencies with their review of the incident.”
For updates you can follow One Ocean Expeditions on Twitter, @oneoceanexp
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