Kurt Kristensen | 13-09 - 17:07
Greenland Command rescue exercise 'Northern Deployment' in the far north of Greenland has concluded that an accident aboard a cruise ship in the Nares Strait and the Northwest Passage could have fatal consequences.
The only deep-water port in the waters between Greenland and Canada is at Thule Air Base, but it would be very difficult to bring in hundreds of injured passengers into the base and to evacuate the rest of the passengers and crew from a ship on fire.
The exercise demonstrated the great value of reconnaissance aircraft for gaining an overview of how severe an accident was.
Today, a Challenger reconnaissance jet is stationed in Greenland only eight days a month. The Greenland Command is continuing to push for a Challenger to be permanently stationed in Greenland.
‘Another solution would be that cruise ships coordinate their trips in the waters of Greenland, so within a few hours they can come to each other’s rescue,’ said Rear Admiral Henrik B Kudsk, the head of the Greenland Command.
The tourism industry opposes such a measure.
‘We welcome any suggestions for improved preparedness, but requiring ships to travel in convoy is not realistic,’ Malik Milfeldt, of the Greenland Tourism and Business Council, said.
She said the cruise ship industry in Greenland is already highly competitive and requiring companies to offer exactly the same route would hamper its growth.
Managing the crush of tourists on land would also pose a problem for many towns. As it is, towns groan under the weight of the visits which in some cases are double their populations. Multiple ships in the same day or in rapid succession, according to Milfeldt, would burden towns even further.