(OTTAWA) — The owners of a cruise ship will have to pay nearly $500,000 in environmental costs to the Canadian government after a federal court judge ruled they were responsible for a grounding in Nunavut, CBC News reported. Justice Sean Harrington also dismissed a $13.5 million claim from Bahamas-based Adventurer Owner Ltd. alleging that the Canadian government should have given the operator more information that could have prevented the incident.
Clipper Adventurer, carrying 128 passengers and 69 crew, struck an uncharted rock shelf near Kugluktuk, Nunavut, in August 2010. A Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker rescued the passengers after Clipper Adventurer's crew was unable to dislodge the vessel. It was eventually freed by four tugboats and taken to Poland for repairs.
Adventurer Owner Ltd. claimed Ottawa failed to inform mariners about the rock shelf and sought to be reimbursed for repairs, salvage and loss of business, among other costs. In his decision, Harrington said the Coast Guard properly warned Clipper Adventurer's crew of the shelf through a notice to shipping, which was not on board the ship.
Click here to read the CBC story. Click here to read Professional Mariner's coverage of the incident from 2012.
