Sinking Canadian Cruise Liner Evacuated Off Antarctica
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sinking Canadian Cruise Liner Evacuated Off Antarctica*
Saturday November 24, 2007 1:46 AM
By BILL CORMIER
Associated Press Writer
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - A Canadian cruise ship struck submerged
ice off Antarctica and began sinking, but all 154 passengers and crew,
Americans and Britons among them, took to lifeboats and were plucked to
safety by a passing cruise ship.
The entire vessel finally slipped beneath the waves Friday evening,
about 20 hours after the predawn accident near Antarctica's South
Shetland Islands, the Chilean navy said.
No injuries were reported although passengers reportedly endured
subfreezing temperatures for several hours as they waited in bobbing
lifeboats for a Norwegian liner that took them to a Chilean military
base in the region.
``The ship ran into some ice. It was submerged ice and the result was a
hole about the size of a fist in the side of the hull so it began taking
on water ... but quite slowly,'' said Susan Hayes of G.A.P. Adventures
of Toronto, which owns the stricken MS Explorer. ``The passengers are
absolutely fine. They're all accounted for, no injuries whatsoever.''
Throughout the day, Chilean aerial photographs showed the ship listing
heavily, its white superstructure and red hull starkly visible against
the gray, choppy waters and overcast skies. The navy eventually lost
sight of the ship and wreckage indicated it had gone under completely,
according to a navy press officer who declined be identified in
accordance with department policy.
``Our units in the area aren't seeing anything,'' he told The Associated
Press by telephone. ``The Explorer is not visible any longer.''
Hayes said 91 passengers had been aboard, including at least 23 Britons,
17 Dutch, 13 Americans and 10 Canadians. The ship also carried nine
expedition staff members and a crew of 54.
The group calmly abandoned ship when the captain's order came and pumps
helped keep the ship stable for an orderly evacuation, Hayes said.
Arnvid Hansen, captain of the Norwegian liner Nordnorge, said his ship
ferried the passengers and crew to a Chilean air force base on King
George Island in Antarctic waters near southernmost South America.
``The rescue operation ran very smoothly,'' the 54-year-old captain told
The Associated Press by shipboard telephone from the Nordnorge.
G.A.P Adventures is a tour company that provides excursions with an
environmental focus. The Explorer was on a 19-day circuit of Antarctica
and the Falkland Islands letting passengers observe penguins, whales and
other wildlife while getting briefings from experts on the region.
Traveling to Antarctica is always risky, Hayes said.
``There is ice in the area. Obviously it's a hazard of the area. But
it's highly unusual (that the ship would hit the ice). This has never
happened to us,'' he said.
An Argentine rescue and command center received the first distress call
at 12:30 a.m. EST Friday from the Explorer amid reports it was taking on
water despite efforts to use onboard pumps, said Capt. Juan Pablo
Panichini, an Argentine navy spokesman.
A navy statement said that the captain ordered passengers to abandon
ship about 90 minutes after the first call and that passengers and crew
boarded eight semi-rigid lifeboats and four life rafts, with the captain
leaving the ship later.
A Chilean ornithologist identified as Paola Palavecino was quoted in an
Argentine media report as saying she and others aboard went into the
lifeboats before dawn and endured subfreezing temperatures for a few
hours until they were picked up about 6 a.m. EST.
``The ship took on water quickly,'' she was quoted by the Argentine news
agency Diarios y Noticias as telling a local radio station in a call
from the Nordnorge.
A commander at Chile's air base on King George island confirmed late
Friday that the Nordnorge had arrived in a bay near the base, but said
waves and strong winds had prevented the passengers from immediately
disembarking.
He said Chilean air force planes, weather permitting, would fly the
survivors on Saturday to Punta Arenas at the southernmost tip of Chile.
An Argentine navy statement said the Explorer was about 475 nautical
miles southeast of Ushuaia, the southernmost Argentine city and a
jumping-off point for cruise ships and supply vessels for Antarctica.
Seas were calm and winds light at the time of the accident, officials said.
Last Feb. 1, the Nordnorge evacuated 294 passengers, including 119
Americans from a sister Norwegian cruise ship, the MS Nordkapp, which
ran aground off a remote Antarctic island. The Nordkapp later pulled off
the rocks under its own power and authorities said those passengers were
never in danger.
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Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.