Alaskan Cruise Ship Passengers Rescued

Empress Of The North Ran Aground In Icy Straight, Nearly 250 Passengers Taken Off Ship

(AP)  A cruise ship ran aground off the Alaska coast early Monday, and it was taking on water as its passengers were transferred to nearby ships, Coast Guard officials said.

The company that operates the Empress of the North cruise ship said all the passengers have been safely taken off the ship and it's on its way back to Juneau under its own power.

Majestic America spokesman Dan Miller in Seattle said the damage will be assessed to determine whether the ship can resume its summer schedule of cruises out of Juneau.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The Empress of the North, carrying 281 passengers and crew, was listing 6 degrees after hitting a rock at the southern end of Icy Strait, about 15 miles southwest of Juneau, said Petty Officer Christopher D. McLaughlin at the Coast Guard base in Kodiak.

An emergency radio message came in from the ship at 12:35 a.m., and a Coast Guard aircraft and helicopter were sent out, McLaughlin said. Over the following hours, passengers were transferred from the Empress of the North to fishing vessels and other cruise ships that were in the area.

"Many Good Samaritan boats on scene are taking off passengers," McLaughlin said.

It wasn't immediately clear why the cruise ship ran around, he said.

Miller told CNN that about half the passengers had been removed from the ship by 6 a.m. and that they were being taken to Juneau. He said the ship had been stabilized. It had been on Day 2 of a seven-day trip, he said.

The Empress of the North has a three-story paddlewheel and galleries featuring Native American masks and Russian artwork, including Faberge eggs, according to its Web site.

The American-built ship is billed by the company as the only overnight paddlewheel vessel in use on Alaskan cruises. It also is used on cruises on the Columbia River between Washington state and Oregon.

According to the company's Web site, the Empress of the North is a "newly built" sternwheeler with a 24-hour bar and grill, a crew of 84, 112 staterooms for 223 passengers and "a robust modern diesel propulsion system."

McLaughlin said the Coast Guard's initial report listed the ship as 299 feet long, while the Web site gave the length as 360 feet.