The Canadian Coast Guard is seeking almost half a million dollars in damages from the cruise ship MV Clipper Adventurer and its owners.

The coast guard, through the federal government, launched a lawsuit on Friday.

The ship ran aground near Kugluktuk, Nunavut, in August 2010 after hitting an uncharted rock shelf. The Coast Guard's Amundsen ship had to rescue the 128 passengers after the Clipper Adventurer's crew was unable to dislodge the vessel.

The lawsuit says the damages are to prevent, repair or minimize pollution from the ship's grounding. The Coast Guard said that when the ship was grounded, 13 tanks aboard were breached. Some of those tanks held fuel, freshwater and sludge.

Another Coast Guard ship, the Sir Wilfrid Laurier, was sent to the site to monitor the salvaging of the ship and the potential pollution from the accident.

The lawsuit claims the rock shelf was a known hazard to mariners since September 2007.

The owners of the Clipper Adventurer filed a lawsuit against the federal government last spring saying they should have been given more information about the hazard.

Source: CBC