The El Universo newspaper reports that the Celebrity Xpedition cruise ship ran aground and became stranded on a sandbar yesterday evening.

The newspaper states that the cruise ship ran aground Tuesday at Punta Vicente Roca, located north of Isabela Island in the Galapagos.

The Celebrity ship sent an alert yesterday evening. The Armed Forces of Equador and the Galapagos National Park responded to the grounding.

Three boats reportedly went to the ship and transferred the passengers and some crew members to the Celebrity Flora.

There was reportedly no damage to the ship’s hull. The ship was  was refloated and will be towed to the Italbaca Canal, located between the Baltra and Santa Cruz Islands.

Forty-six passengers and “non-essential” crew members were evacuated according to parent company Royal Caribbean, as reported by the Miami Herald.

Forbes touted the Celebrity Xpedition as “the most luxurious way to explore the Galapagos Islands.”

Six months ago,  the passenger ship Galapagos Majestic ran aground in the Galapagos (on May 31st) with 26 people on board, according to marine professonal and journalist Mikhail Voytenko (via Fleetmon). The excursion ship sank the following day after the passengers were evacuated.

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Photo Credit: Top – Raphodon CC 3.0 creative commons/wikipedia; middle – El Universo; bottom – ecuavisa via Mikhail Voytenko via Fleetmon.