Passengers rescued from grounded adventure cruise

An adventure cruise called "Into the Northwest Passage" has given its 128 passengers rather more of an adventure than they signed up. They had to be rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard after the 1975-built cruise ship Clipper Adventurer grounded Friday evening.

According to cruise operator Adventure Canada "at approximately 1910 local time (GMT-7) on August 27, 2010, MV Clipper Adventurer, en-route from Port Epworth to Kugluktuk, Nunavut, was grounded on an uncharted rock at 67 58 N 112 40 W. At the time the seas were calm, sunny conditions and good visibility with no wind or swell."

Adventure Canada says that "efforts of the vessel's crew to dislodge the vessel during high tide on August 28 were unsuccessful" and as of Sunday evening it was "resting with a slight list."

None of the passengers were injured, but they were forced to stay on the ship until Sunday, when a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker arrived to ferry them to Kugluktuk.

According to some media reports, 70 crew members remain aboard.

The Bahamas-flag vessel is managed by International Shipping Partners, Miami, and registered to a company that has the same Biscayne Boulevard address. International Shipping Partners manages cruise ships owned by Denmark's Clipper Group, which until last year held a 50 percent stake in the Miami ship management company