Arctic ice ship captain quizzed

The ship had 46 people on board when the accident happened

The captain of a sightseeing ship which was hit by falling ice from a glacier in the Arctic is being questioned.

Investigators want to establish whether the vessel was sailing too close to the ice cliff when it broke off.

Seventeen British passengers were injured after ice hit the ship's deck creating a large wave which made the ship list.

The incident happened on Wednesday as it toured the Svalbard Islands, 500km (310 miles) north of Norway.

A total of 18 people, including a Russian crew member, sustained injuries ranging from broken arms and legs to a head wound, according to local officials.

Serious injuries

The injured were initially sent to a hospital at Longyearbyen on the Svalbard island of Spitsbergen.

Three Britons and the Russian were transferred yesterday morning by air to University Hospital, Tromso, on the Norwegian mainland to be treated for more serious injuries.

The hospital received two more patients last night, both British tourists. One of those injured was named today as Donald Reid, 56, from Bearsden near Glasgow.

He suffered a punctured lung, fractured ribs and a fractured shoulder blade.

The luxury ship had 46 people on board who had paid around £2,500 to take part in the "expedition voyage" booked through specialist tour operator Discover The World.

Clive Stacey, managing director of the company, flew to Svalbard last night.

Having spoken to passengers on the ship, he was able to explained what happened.

"They were following an ice edge and then part of the glacier fell away from the main glacier into the water," he said.

"That caused a tidal wave that hit the boat and came up on deck.

'Freak situation'

"It was a freak situation and unfortunately the ship was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The possibility that the vessel was sailing too close to the edge of the ice cliff has not been ruled out.

The authorities in Svalbard have launched an investigation into the incident.

Stein Tore Pedersen, tourism adviser to the Sysselmann (governor), said: "We are trying to interview the passengers and the captain to find out what really happened and then we will decide what to do next."

The captain of the ship, George Zhelenin, has more than 10 years' experience sailing in polar waters.