Holland America's Volendam cruise ship rescued 70 tourists Sunday from their ailing sightseeing boat in Alaska's Glacier Bay, Reuters reports.
The Baranof Wind, believed to have been in the course of an eight-hour tour, struck a rock in Glacier Bay around 11 a.m. and began taking on water, according to The Daily Mail.
The boat's captain had apparently been trying to get closer to shore to see brown bears, reports the Associated Press.
A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard told Alaska Dispatch that the rescue operation involved a National Park Service boat, a Coast Guard Cutter and helicopter, and some Good Samaritans. 70 of the passengers were transferred to the Volendam, two went aboard a Park Service boat, and four crew members stayed behind with the Baranof Wind.
According to Reuters, the "boat was stabilized after the accident, and there were no immediate signs of spills or other pollution."
In June, a Norwegian cruise ship came to the rescue of six sailors on a disabled yacht in the Atlantic. Just one month before, the Disney Fantasy rescued four men adrift on a small raft off the Florida coast. And, in April, a Royal Caribbean ship picked up 23 Cuban migrants.
A Princess Cruise ship allegedly neglected to aid a distressed fishing vessel in the Pacific in April. The sole survivor from the stranded boat is suing Princess Cruises, as are family members of one of the men who died.
CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, the name of the ship that rescued 70 tourists was misspelled. It is the Volendam.