Ship runs aground in Isfjorden on Svalbard, all 15 passengers rescued

A rescue operation has been launched after a ship ran aground in the Isfjorden on Svalbard. The Hurtigruten ship “Nordstjernen” is assisting.

At 20:34 on Monday, the Governor was notified by the Northern Norway Rescue Center that the ship MS Isbjørn 2 with 15 people on board had run aground in Borebukta in Isfjorden on Svalbard.

– We have been involved in coordinating the rescue operation, rescue manager Tore Hongset at the Northern Norway Rescue Center tells VG.

– All 15 people on board have now been evacuated with the help of the governor’s helicopter, says Hongset.

In a update on Monday evening, the Governor confirms that all 15 have been brought into Longyearbyen.

– MS Isbjørn 2 had 12 French passengers and a crew of three. None of the 15 is physically injured. Longyearbyen Local Government has established a reception centre, writes the Sysselmesteren.

– The ship takes in water and has a strong list. An oil leak has been observed in the sea, but the extent is unknown. Oil spill preparedness has been set, and the Governor’s service vessel Polarsyssel and KV Svalbard are on their way to the scene of the accident.

– We are now sitting down and drawing up a plan for how to deal with the acute pollution there, emergency officer Ketil Lorentzen at the Coastal Administration tells VG.

He states that there has been an olke observed on the lake – but that they do not know the extent.

– There may be small amounts of lubricating oil and other things lying on the deck, we have not received reports of large leaks yet, but the potential is 6,500 liters of diesel, says Lorentzen.

Captain on board the fast-route ship “Nordstjernen”, Tormod Karlsen, tells VG that they were asked to assist MS Isbjørn 2.

– When a boat is in distress, we are called by HRS and asked to assist. Those who can report for duty, and we did, says Karlsen at around 10.25pm.

The Hurtigruten ship has 88 passengers on board.

– The people have already been rescued and brought into Longyearbyen. We were encouraged to lie down for a while to assess the situation. We are going to salvage an inflatable boat, a Zodiac, which they had to abandon, continues the captain.

Karlsen describes the situation as undramatic for the Hurtigruten employees, but talks about bad weather and a lot of wind at the site.

Also last year, the foundation supported the same tourist boat in Borebukta. Then it was pulled loose and headed towards Longyearbyen on its own, according to the report NRK i 2022.

Several other boats have run aground in the exact same place in the past, according to an article from Svalbardposten i 2022.

Hongset in the Main Rescue Center says that they received a report about the grounding of MS Isbjørn 2 at around 8.30pm on Monday evening.