Lindblad Expeditions has cancelled two more cruises for its newbuilding National Geographic Quest after it was damaged during launch.
The 2,000-gt vessel will not now head for Alaska on 8 and 15 July after grounding a propeller and its rudder as it slid off the ramp at Nichols Bros in the US on 14 June.
The Travel Agent website cited a company statement as saying: "Divers and surveyors were engaged and it has become clear that full repair requires drydocking the ship to fully evaluate the extent of damage."
CEO Sven Lindblad wrote in a letter to guests: "At first this seemed like fixable damage within the time frame required to repair but we have now learned that the damage is more severe. We still do not know exactly how long it will take to fully repair but certainly not in time for your voyage."
Earlier this month the debut trip to British Columbia and Alaska on 26 June was scrapped due to what it called technical problems.
"During our launch, the shipyard team encountered circumstances in which the vessel began moving out of alignment, forcing the operation to halt," Lindblad said at that time.
