A fuel tanker is aground on a sandbar in Canada’s far north.

The ship, carrying nine million litres of diesel fuel, became stuck on Wednesday on the sandbar in the famed Northwest Passage, southwest of the town of Gjoa Haven in Canada’s Nunavut territory.

While the ship’s owner, Woodward Oil, is now attempting to float it off the sandbar, Canadian authorities are concerned about contamination from oil spilling into Arctic waters.

Last week, a cruise ship struck an uncharted rock in the same waterway, forcing the evacuation of more than 110 passengers and crew.

The crash occurred late Friday when the ship, Clipper Adventurer, was on a 12-day voyage through the passage.