The Explorer's collision with an iceberg comes right at the start of the
season for Antarctic cruising, which runs between November and March.
Tour operators are expecting this to be a record year with demand for
adventure tourism continuing unabated. More than 37,000 tourists visited in
the 2006-07 season, of which 5,052 were British. Americans and Britons make
up half of all visitors to the region.
The figures have doubled in the past decade and more than 40 ships are
expected to visit this season, ranging from ice breakers to small cruise
ships and the large leviathans carrying 1,000 or more passengers.
Most of the British cruisers are young professionals, empty nesters or newly
retired and the majority take 10-night cruises from Ushuaia at the tip of
Argentina - the shortest sea-crossing (about 35 hours), as compared to the
three-day voyage from Australia or New Zealand.
But increasing numbers are turning to 12-13 night cruises that go further into
the Antarctic Circle, or 18-19 night cruises that also take in the Falkland
Islands and South Georgia. The cruises don't come cheap, starting at £4,500
and rising to £6,500 or more to include flights and hotel accommodation in
Argentina.
The stricken Explorer was on a 25-day super trip of the Falklands, South
Georgia and Antarctica and had sold packages in Britain through
Trailfinders, Noble Caledonia and Explore Worldwide with prices from £7,250.
It had visited the Falklands last wekend and many cruisers had disembarked
to visit the penguin colonies.
Hattie Kilmartin, who runs a catering
company in The Falklands, told Times Online: "Our season only
officially started last weekend and we took a small group off Explorer for
lunch at a lagoon - they said they bid for their cruise at a charity auction
and paid £120,000 for the two owner suites.
"It's bloody awful what has happened - apparently all from a fist sized
hole! I only know that it hit the ice. She was a very characterful and
popular ship."
The Explorer is owned and operated by Canadian-based tour operator GAP
Adventures. Built in 1969, it has recently undergone a refit costing several
million pounds.
Explore had 14 passengers onboard and the UK manager of another tour operator,
Peregrine Adventures, said it was "very, very likely" that more
Britons would be onboard. Jarrod Kyte added: "The general feeling is
that it is going to be another record season."
His company is one of 38 tour operators that are members of the International
Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), set by 16 years ago to
address tourism issues affecting the region. GAP Adventures is also a member
- but some operators are not and Kyte raised concerns about the type of some
ships visiting Antarctica.
"There are two different types of voyages - the small expedition or
icebreakers who are very much about getting off ships and then the big
floating hotels whose passengers see the Antarctic from heated cabins.
"There are an alarming number of ships that take passengers there that
you have to question whether they should be there at all. I'm not talking
about Explorer but the big ships - you question why they are there.
"The mind boggles at the logistics of getting 800 people and crew off a
huge ship. And are these ships eqipped for ice conditions, or stable enough
enough for these sorts of water?"
The IAATO held its annual general meeting in Australia last June, and one of
the main discussions was the use of unsuitable ships in icy conditions. But
at the same agm, IAATO extended its review of landing sites in Antarctica by
13 - to make a total of 45 being investigated.
Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey are thought to have been in the
region this summer helping to investigate suitable landing sites that will
have minimum impact on the enviroment and wildlife. The relentless rise in
adventure tourism continues unabated.
The MV Explorer has been sailing for the past 30 years in unexplorer areas with great achievement of destinations and an incredible success. The size of the vessel is perfect for taking ashore Guests with inflatable boats in respect of safety and environmental issues. The treatment plant fitted on "ships" is rather safer than small leisure boats and the safety of the people on board is well maintained. Would a typically six passengers sailing yacht have the same equipment?
I personally reccomend this kind of travel.
Smooth sailing
Frank Bright, Langsley,
Actually, there's a third type of Antarctic expedition, and that's on a small, typically six-passenger sailing yacht like S/V Seal, which makes one trip to the Peninsula each year. See www.ExpeditionSail.com for more information.
Personally, my mind boggles at the logisttics of getting 100 people off! The larger question of course is how much fuel oil Explorer has spilled.
Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
Daniel Ford, Durham, NH, USA