Explorer - being evacuated

[CruiseIsGood]

 

It is likely though, that by december most ice will have cleared out.

I'm kind of counting on it...

 

Me too! I'll actually be in Antarctica on the 17th (Deception/King George Islands) so maybe at some point we can wave to each other. :)

 

Thank you so much for all of that information, especially the Hanseatic web cam. It's the most boring web cam I've ever seen so far! heh. But they are in Tahiti. I'll love watching them when they are in Antarctica.

 

I'll only get two landings, since as a solo cruiser I just don't have the money for an expedition ship, but I'm hoping to walk with penguins at some point. Thanks also for the map and your explanations.

 

Do you think the ice is thick due to the cold or due to the breaking up of the continent from global warming? Or if you don't want to speculate, no problem. Thanks for all of your contributions!

[minke]

Tia, hope your cruise goes well. Last December we had a fantastic evening trip through the Antarctic sound & good allround trip elsewhere. As you know ice does move around quite quickly. I did already know ice was bad this year as I read on the Nov diary from Port Lockroy (ukaht.org). The Nordnorge managed to get through & drop the staff off, but next 2 ships i/c Nordnorge next cruise could not get through. Back in 1956 we crossed the antarctic circle on Nov 5th To go south of Adelaide Is in a 1937 built non ice protected ship! Later in season we surveyed pack ice in Weddell sea for the Trans-antarctric expedition & got surrounded ourselves, Captain had to push our way out ending with a dented bow & a leaking rivet hole! I was very young then & never thought anything of it, just a great adventure for a teenager!

[minke]

You can find the Nordnorge webcam but not the Fram, here http://www.hurtigruten.co.uk/webcams.aspx

[Mercury]

Tia Thank-you so much for your very informative posts. I was on the Explorer II in Dec 2004 and Antarctica will always hold a special place in my heart.

[Mercury]

"Into Uncharted Waters

 

The sinking of the cruise ship Explorer didn’t surprise Jason Anthony. He has worked out of McMurdo Station in Antarctica for years.

 

This sinking of one of the industry’s more reliable ships should give pause to anyone thinking of cruising the dangerous waters off Antarctica. Picture the rapid sinking of an upscale behemoth populated by rhinestone cowboys, small dogs and seniors. (Last year Princess Cruises sent a thin-hulled vessel south with 3,500 passengers and crew, with another scheduled for this January.) The assurances of the cruise industry should no longer lull clients into complacency."

 

I wonder if cruiselines like Princess are going to reconsider their Antarctic itineraries? It would be a massive tragedy if 3000+ passengers die because there is no ship big enough to rescue all of them. Scary thought...

[Tia Serena]

Do you think the ice is thick due to the cold or due to the breaking up of the continent from global warming? Or if you don't want to speculate, no problem. Thanks for all of your contributions!

 

There are cycles, years with more ice and less ice. The year that Shackleton left for his ill fated trip was a year with excess of ice, and he was advised by the whaling captains to postpone his trip.

 

The last few years have been rather warm, in Antarctica, and all of us have been concerned it has been an effect of global warming. The ice is late breaking this year, but it´s not out of normal range. As I said in some previous posting, 10 years ago, nobody would start cruising so early as November, but the last few warmer years have made people confident, maybe over confident.

 

People who believe that human intervention is causing this global warming have been using these recent warmer years as evidence. I am sure now that people who don't believe in it will have more arguments to say it's just part of the normal cycles...

[Tia Serena]

Tia, hope your cruise goes well. Last December we had a fantastic evening trip through the Antarctic sound & good allround trip elsewhere. As you know ice does move around quite quickly. I did already know ice was bad this year as I read on the Nov diary from Port Lockroy (ukaht.org). The Nordnorge managed to get through & drop the staff off, but next 2 ships i/c Nordnorge next cruise could not get through. Back in 1956 we crossed the antarctic circle on Nov 5th To go south of Adelaide Is in a 1937 built non ice protected ship! Later in season we surveyed pack ice in Weddell sea for the Trans-antarctric expedition & got surrounded ourselves, Captain had to push our way out ending with a dented bow & a leaking rivet hole! I was very young then & never thought anything of it, just a great adventure for a teenager!

 

Thanks for the link to the UK heritage site. It is very interesting. I was interested to see that 2006 was the first year that they opened up Port Lockroy in November instead of December.

 

I understand what you mean by the ice moving fast, and about your sense of adventure - I guess that the more information we have the more we worry. This is why I normally don't follow the news - a lot of it is designed to make us feel scared and stay home. But still I like to collect as much information I can on a few subjects...

;)

[Tia Serena]

Tia Thank-you so much for your very informative posts. I was on the Explorer II in Dec 2004 and Antarctica will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

I wonder if cruiselines like Princess are going to reconsider their Antarctic itineraries? It would be a massive tragedy if 3000+ passengers die because there is no ship big enough to rescue all of them. Scary thought...

 

You are welcome.

Pretty soon I will be there and my logging will be fewer, as we don't have live internet in the ship I'll be...:D

 

I hope that tourism in Antarctic is reconsidered, but I am afraid that everybody and their cousin are going to try and regulate it...:(

[Shoreside]

Technically there is nobody who can forbid. Iaato only has authority over those who accept their authority. As I have always worked for organizations that follow the Iaato recommendations as if their are law, I had all but forgotten that they are just recommendations.

 

The tour company has to apply for a license to operate in Antarctica, so in theory the countries could regulate who they issue licenses to. But if regulations become too strict, companies might migrate to other countries with more "flexible regulations", like the convenience flags.quote]

 

FYI, the large ships headed to Antarctica -- Crystal, Holland America and Princess -- are all members of IAATO.

 

IAATO's recommendations are becoming regulations, as the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat takes a more active role in managing tourism.

 

I doubt "regulation shopping" is an option. Permission is granted by the governmental agencies that deal with the Antarctic Treaty (such as the EPA in the U.S.) in the country where the Antarctic operation is organized. I doubt any Antarctic Treat signatory country would take a laissez-faire attitude to granting permission under its authority.

[Tia Serena]

I found some more news about the Explorer, but still, nothing really *new*!

 

Accident do not affect sales

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=3931801&page=1

 

 

Sinking Explanation doesn't hold water

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/CSM/Story?id=3943722&page=1

 

New Flickr pages about the Explorer

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wafo/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ms_explorer

http://www.flickr.com/groups/explorer_survivors/pool/