The Russian research ship “Akademik Ioffe” was filmed outside Skagen, Denmark on November 5, 2021. (HENNING BAGGER / RITZAU SCANPIX / AFP)
Court documents show that a Russian national research ship was detained at a Danish port this week at the request of a Canadian cruise operator that filed a lawsuit in Canada.
The ship, named Akademik Ioffe, was operated by the Hilshoff Institute of Oceanography under the Russian Academy of Sciences and was detained on November 1 while refueling at the port of Skagen in northern Denmark.
According to court documents seen by Reuters, Canadian cruise ship operator One Ocean Expeditions requested the move, which stated that Akademik Ioffe had previously tried to detain him in Portugal.
One Ocean Expeditions has filed a lawsuit in Canada against the owner of Akademik Ioffe, seeking compensation for an incident that occurred on August 24, 2018, which was subsequently leased to the travel agency of Arctic Cruises and stranded during a trip in northern Canada.
According to the documents, One Ocean Expeditions stated that the crew of the ship did not “pay attention to the chart” and was seeking compensation worth US$6.14 million.
At the time of Skagen’s detention, there were 61 people on board, including crew and researchers.
According to court documents, the captain told the local authorities that he was aware of the stranding, but believed that the matter had been resolved.
The Russian Embassy in Copenhagen stated that it had received “a copy of the court decision on which the arrest (research ship) was based.” Embassy officials have kept in touch with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter.
