Expedition Cruise Ship Grounds in Norway During Shipyard Return

An expeditionary cruise ship belonging to Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten ran aground and was later refloated in western Norwegian fjord north of Bergen on Friday. The ship, MS Richard With, was not carrying any passengers at the time and all 67 people on board were not harmed in the incident.

Richard With was returning to Bergen from a shipyard maintenance period when the grounding occurred Friday morning on the northern end of Sognefjord due to a “technical system error which led to the ship temporarily losing control,” Hurtigruten said in a statement.

Following the grounding, the Richard With was joined by the Norwegian coastguard-contracted KV Bergen and the anchor handling tug (AHTS) Skandi Iceman belonging to DOF Group. But the was refloated at the next high tide without the assistance of tugs, according to an update at around 5 p.m. CEST.

Hurtigruten said the vessel sustained only minor damage to its bulb and forward ballast tank and no environmental pollution has been reported. She is currently sailing to the shipyard for repairs.

The 67 people on board at the time comprised of 54 crew members and 14 service personnel performing follow-up work following the shipyard stay.

Hurtigruten said it expects to have the ship ready by its next scheduled sailing date on August 20.