Soviet ship to become floating barracks for Danish forces in Greenland

Danish authorities will send the ship MS «Ocean Endeavour» to Greenland, which was produced in Soviet times and bore the name «Konstantin Simonov». The ship will counter Trump«s plans and become a barracks for Danish and other military personnel, the newspaper Bild reported with reference to the Danish military forces.

The six-deck cruise ship of the Finnish company Kristina Cruises was built on order of the Soviet Union as a sea auto-passenger ferry of the «Dmitry Shostakovich» class. On 17 April 1981, it was handed over to the crew of the Far Eastern Shipping Company, and it set off from Riga to Cuba, but due to lack of need, the vessel was transferred to the Black Sea Shipping Company in Odessa. On 18 May 1996, the ship was arrested in the port of Kiel for non-payment of debts and sold at auction to the company Pakartin Shipping Co. Ltd, which renamed the «Konstantin Simonov» to Fransesca and also placed the ship under the Cypriot flag.

Thus, the ship changed several more owners and flags, and also underwent changes, but in 2014 it was bought by the American company SunStone. It gave the Soviet vessel its current name — MS «Ocean Endeavour», and it was used for expeditions.

As a result, the ship with a rich history was put up for sale again in October 2025 and now it may become a floating barracks. Inside, there are equipped restaurant, observation deck, library, sauna, heated outdoor pool, and many common rooms, and therefore from early February it will be moored in the port of Nuuk, located in the eponymous capital of Greenland. The ship will be used as a hotel, including to reduce the load on the city«s hotels.

«Some soldiers of Denmark and other countries, who will take part in the Arctic Endurance exercises in Greenland next year, will be accommodated in the Ocean Endeavour hotel,» Bild quoted the comment of the Danish Armed Forces.