Passengers on grounded Arctic cruise ship to be flown back to Yellowknife

KUGAARUK, Nunavut – RCMP say passengers from an Arctic cruise ship that ran aground Friday morning will be flown back south.

Cpl. Serge Yelle of the Kugaruuk detachment says he expects between 80 and 90 of the passengers will fly from the remote Arctic coastline community back to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories.

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All of the passengers were safely transferred from the grounded ship to a sister cruise ship and are expected back in Kugaruuk later today.

READ MORE: Grounded passenger ship Akademik Ioffe refloated in Canadian Arctic

One Coast Guard icebreaker is on the scene and a second is on its way.

The Transportation Safety Board is considering whether it will send investigators to the site.

A board spokesman says the ship has suffered some damage.