# Explorer sinking off Antarctica



## John-M

Breakfast news. Explorer sinking off Antarctica, Falmouth Coastguard co-ordinating.


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## zealandic

154 passengers are in liferafts...


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## andysk

BBC have it here :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7108835.stm

Cheers

Andy


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## zealandic

theyve just announced its liberian registered built in 1969...it could be regent seven seas cruises....


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## John-M

Could be this one.


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## zealandic

hi john i make you right the one i looked at is a lot bigger called explorer 11 z 


MS Explorer 
Built in Finland by polar explorer Lars Eric Lindblad in 1969, MS Explorer was the world's first purpose-built expedition cruise ship. Only 75m long and with an ice-hardened double hull, Explorer's small size and shallow draught means she can go places other larger expedition cruisers can not, enabling us to offer some of the most pioneering itineraries available.


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## exsailor

John,

That is her. See article and picture at http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/mostpopu...ed.cruise_ship_sinking_in_antarctic_ocean.php

Dennis.


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## andysk

Revised BBC report gives build date as 1969, she is probably the ex LINDBLAD EXPLORER (see Miramar http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ship/show/147161)


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## Pompeyfan

She was commissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad, being the first purpose-built expeditionary vessel, designed to go where no other passenger ship had gone before. She sailed out of the builders yard in Finland on December 14th 1969. In 1984, she became the first passenger ship to cross the Northwest Passage

The BBC once again shows they know nothing about nautical terminology or the purpose of this vessel by calling her a cruise boat and cruise liner in the same article. I suppose they thought that one would fit the bill?!.

From what I can gather, this was a truly professional operation by all concerned in a very difficult area with the captain and chief officer staying on board. A far different story from the Sea Diamond fisaco?!.

David


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## SN NewsCaster

*Cruise ship sinking off Argentina (BBC News)*

Passengers and crew members are being rescued from a sinking cruise liner off Argentina's coast.

More from BBC News...


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## callpor

Loads of reports on Google. Also following webcam shots at :-
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/dyflin/SinkingCruiseship.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/dyflin/SinkingCruiseship2.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/dyflin/SinkingCruiseship3.jpg


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## boulton

With the news still “breaking” about the unfortunate cir***stances of her damage, taking on water, and evacuation of passengers, details of the MV Explorer can be found at:

http://www.choosingcruising.co.uk/C...ing&nShp=1&nLin=121&nOperator=Noble+Caledonia


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## Pompeyfan

Have just caught up on the latest news.

One wonders whether these Antartic cruises should operate at all, even purpose built ships like this. Rescues at sea are dangerous anywhere, but remote areas like this is even more dangerous.

As wonderful as the Anatartic is, shouldn't we leave it to wildlife and research vessels rather than sightseer's?. 

They say safety is paramount in the Antartic. But where do we draw the line between peoples insistence of seeing these places, to their own safety and the safety of their rescuers?.

The CO of the Royal Navy's Ice Patrol Ship, HMS Endurance, Captain Bob Tarrant has just been interviewed on local BBC and has reservations about cruise ships in this area. Endurance is soon to leave Portsmouth for her annual trip to Antartica.


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## SN NewsCaster

*In pictures: Antarctic ship rescue (BBC News)*

Images from the rescue of passengers on a tourist ship off Antarctica.

More from BBC News...


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## Ron Stringer

In such relatively calm seas, it seems remarkable that the reported fist-sized hole could cause such a catastrophe. Unless the scale of the damage was much greater, damage control would appear to have been lacking


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## Paul UK

When you look at all the faults that have been found in this ship by the authorities nothing would surprise me as to the safety aspects.

The good news is no loss of life.

Paul


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## SN NewsCaster

*Hub of worldwide rescue service (BBC News)*

Forget Thunderbirds, the crew of the coastguard station at Falmouth are the real International Rescue.

More from BBC News...


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## Santos

This may give a hint as to how a fist size hold could cause such a list - one of the deficiences found on her last inspection :- *Watertight doors were described as "not as required"*

One wonders.

Chris.


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## RGascoyne

I saw a few Russian ships plying that Antarctic trade back in 2001 when calling at Ushuaia, and thought then I would not want to sail on some of the rust buckets now being sent down there for eco tours.


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## muldonaich

Santos said:


> This may give a hint as to how a fist size hold could cause such a list - one of the deficiences found on her last inspection :- *Watertight doors were described as "not as required"*
> 
> One wonders.
> 
> Chris.


if this is true why was she allowed to sail until all faults were rectified after all these years and disasters we have still learned nothing will we ever???? or how many lives must be lost needlessly kev.


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## Geoff_E

Right, they're all off, they're all apparently safe. Now! isn't it about time these regions were left to the scientists and the penguins? Preferably more of the latter and less of the former.

There's been enough debate on this forum recently about dodgy ships and questionable professional standards......it was only a matter of time!


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## PollY Anna

Hi Guys they reckon it was an Iceberg, but that's not the only danger in the Southern Oceans. I read an article that a lot of the boxes that go over the wall off these wonderful BOX BOATS end up in these waters and if you hit one of these at a rate of knots I would think it could do a whole lot of damage. It would be interesting to find out what caused it.

Thank god all are safe.

Regards Ron


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## Chouan

Last I heard she had hit ice and/or an underwater obstruction. Further comments were about her lifeboats, remarks about them being open boats; inappropriate for the Antarctic, specially with the average passenger age of 70!


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## Pompeyfan

I agree entire Chouan. I could not believe it when I saw open lifeboats. Absolutely crazy in that part of the world. 

David


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## sparkie2182

i was impressed by the norwegian captain of the rescue vessel who was interviewed by the b.b.c. tv news this morning.
he stuck strictly to the facts, and refused to be drawn into speculation by the interviewer who clearly wished to further sensationalize an already fraught situation


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## R.Philip Griffin

Paul UK said:


> When you look at all the faults that have been found in this ship by the authorities nothing would surprise me as to the safety aspects.
> 
> The good news is no loss of life.
> 
> Paul


Notwithstanding the safety aspects of this vessel, seeing her laying on her side and in distress, I find this almost pornagraphic. I hate to see any ship in distress, it is too reminding of the dangerous occupation we used to follow as seafarers. Thank God there were no fatalities.


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## boulton

sparkie2182 said:


> i was impressed by the norwegian captain of the rescue vessel who was interviewed by the b.b.c. tv news this morning.
> he stuck strictly to the facts, and refused to be drawn into speculation by the interviewer who clearly wished to further sensationalize an already fraught situation


Yes, quite agree. You could sense the frustration in the BBC's bloke's voice that he wasn't getting anywhere. The interviewer was also probably surprised that he was getting straight answers to his questions - not what he would be used to, on a daily ration of interviewing our politicians !!


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## SeaStoryWriter

Esp. sad to think the ship may be lost to what sounds like at the moment as insignificant damage just because somebody wouldn't pony up to pay for repairs. Until we get some international method to really put teeth in the regs, then another catastrophe is only a matter of time. Here in CA, they confiscate cars, and that's just if you fail to have a license and insurance-if the bagged us for the little faults, the CHP would make pedestrians of about 90% of us!


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## Ian

PollY Anna said:


> they reckon it was an Iceberg, but that's not the only danger in the Southern Oceans.


When we were relieved at Mawson Station AAT by "Nella Dan" in 1969 we still managed to run aground for a few hours on an uncharted lump ... and that with the benefit of Lauritzens 10 years experience of running in and out of Horseshoe Harbour. Those Antarctic coastal waters just aren't surveyed to any real extent particularly away from the more popular routes.


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## SN NewsCaster

*Ice-rescue tourists to fly home (BBC News)*

Passengers rescued from a cruise ship that sank in the Antarctic Ocean are expected to start their journeys home.

More from BBC News...


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## Geoff_E

Just in time to sell their stories to the tabloids; not that I'm cynical?


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## AncientBrit

After sitting for 6 hours in an open boat down there, I doubt that was their motivation for wanting to be rescued and home with their families.
I'm thankful that they all made it and the crew acted like heroes. Great job guys!


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## MikeK

I wonder why they left her going flat out astern, or so it appears in the news footage, presumably this after all people had abandoned ship ? As you say A.B great job getting everyone off safely and that's the main thing.

Mike


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## Pompeyfan

Yes, a very professional job by the crew. Lessons will be learned we hope. Firstly not to have open boats on these ships. I understand that the only rescue in these waters are other ships in the area. What if there are none?.

David


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## tacho

Good concise report and a couple of interesting comments here.

Also interesting picture on sidebar (with slideshow). In the first picture it looks as if she's doing about 6+ kts astern. I did read somewhere that they went astern whilst launching the boats - possibly she was holed in the bow and going astern might slow the ingress of water - if so good thinking and seamanship not the sort of stuff you learn in a simulator.


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## SN NewsCaster

*Cruise ship 'fit for conditions' (BBC News)*

A cruise ship which sank in the Antarctic Ocean was fit to sail in such conditions, a shipping agent says.

More from BBC News...


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## JoK

I am quite sure she is, but with receding ice conditions, I am sure these ships are venturing into areas that are barely sounded and mapped.


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## Steve Woodward

They went for excitement and something different did'nt they ?


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## SN NewsCaster

*Irish among rescued ice cruisers (BBC News)*

Four Irish people are among the passengers and crew rescued from a cruise ship that sank in the Antarctic Ocean. 

More from BBC News...


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## SN NewsCaster

*Bad weather delays tourist return (BBC News)*

Bad weather blocks efforts to air lift passengers of the shipwrecked Antarctic vessel Explorer to Chile.

More from BBC News...


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## SN NewsCaster

*Evacuee describes Antarctic rescue (BBC News)*

A British woman who was among 154 people rescued from a sinking cruise ship in the Antarctic describes the evacuation.

More from BBC News...


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## SN NewsCaster

*Bird expert in Antarctica drama (BBC News)*

A woman from the Isles of Scilly talks about the worry of finding her husband was on board a ship sinking in the Antarctic.

More from BBC News...


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## Hamish Mackintosh

So much for double hull theory and the Titanic, this one had a double hull, is Canadian owned and this was the first trip after dry docking(they didn't say where tho, she is not registered in Canada tho


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## randcmackenzie

*Engine Astern*



MikeK said:


> I wonder why they left her going flat out astern, or so it appears in the news footage, presumably this after all people had abandoned ship ? As you say A.B great job getting everyone off safely and that's the main thing.
> 
> Mike



Not flat out, but going astern certainly.

I think it is more likely she had a CP propeller which failed to Full Astern pitch when the power went off the hydraulic control mechanism. If the main engine had engine driven pumps it would still keep plodding on.

I noticed from the TV that at least one of the boats was a rowing boat only - no engine. And all were open boats.

Kind of gives the lie to the ' No expense saved on safety' line.


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## SN NewsCaster

*Evacuees recount Antarctic escape (BBC News)*

Britons rescued from a sinking cruise ship in the Antarctic recount their experiences.

More from BBC News...


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## Basil

Anyone know if there's a website with hull drawings - basic stuff such as bulkheads doors etc?


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## non descript

A reasonable report from (and copyright of) The Times today:
_
PASSENGERS aboard the stricken cruise liner Explorer told yesterday of their “Titanic moment” when they were set adrift in darkness in lifeboats and rubber dinghies after the ship was holed below the water line. 

The holidaymakers, including 24 Britons, were left to huddle together for warmth as they floated for five hours in sub-zero temperatures in the frozen wastes of the Antarctic ocean, not knowing when they would be rescued. 

At one point the flooded engines of the Explorer roared back into life and the vessel, by now listing at 45 degrees, began to churn the water as it moved backwards in a circular motion perilously close to them. 

The passengers countered their fear by cracking jokes about the original Titanic disaster in 1912 when the world’s biggest passenger liner hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank with the loss of 1,490 lives. 

Bob Flood, 52, a scientific journal editor and ornithologist from the Scilly Isles who had joined the £4,000-a-head cruise to give lectures about birds such as the albatross and the storm petrel, said: “We didn’t panic because we knew there must be other cruise ships in the area. The bizarre thing was that people began to tell Titanic jokes.” 

It was just after midnight on Friday when the starboard bow of Explorer, a 30-year-old veteran of Antarctic cruises on a trip to retrace the steps of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Anglo-Irish polar explorer, collided with a dagger-shaped ice floe just below its water line. 

The stiletto-sharp ice tore through the ship’s steel bulkhead into one of the cabins. Passengers were awoken by the crash and by ice-cold water gushing in. They rushed to the upper decks to sound the alarm. 

Andrea Salas, a guide on the cruise which had left Ushuaia in her native Argentina 12 days earlier, said: “I was in the ship’s bar having a drink with colleagues and some passengers when two passengers from the cabins below came in shouting, ‘There’s water, there’s water!’ ” 

Crewmen struggled for an hour to strip walling and insulation from the cabin to reach the foot-wide hole but water poured down a 2in-wide scupper pipe used to remove condensation from the cabin. It flooded the engines below and there was a power cut, knocking out the bilge pumps which had been clearing the water from the hull. 

Peter Svensson, the Explorer’s first officer, said: “In the water we tried to cover the hole — we managed it at first but then we got a small blackout and the water started coming in more.” 

As the Explorer began to list at 25 degrees, an order was given to abandon ship. 

Raymond King, 67, on holiday from Belfast, said: “It was pretty horrific. It was wet, it was cold, it was scary. I’ve got the clothes I am wearing, my watch, my camera and that’s it.” 

The 2,400-ton vessel’s Mayday messages were picked up by two other liners, the Nordnorge and the Endeavour, and by a Brazilian warship. They took five hours to reach the scene as a Chilean navy helicopter hovered overhead and coastguards from Falmouth in Cornwall co-ordinated the rescue with their counterparts in Argentina and the United States. 

The Nordnorge used its own lifeboat as a “lift”, lowering and raising it to bring the 91 passengers, nine expedition staff and 54 crew of the Explorer aboard 10 at a time from their four lifeboats and eight dinghies. 

The operation took half an hour. Three of the passengers were suffering from hypothermia and had to be clad in thermal blankets and fed hot drinks until they recovered. 

Those rescued were then dropped at two Antarctic bases, one Chilean and one Uruguayan, a few hundred yards apart. Last night some were being flown to Punta Arenas on the Chilean mainland aboard a Chilean air force Hercules aircraft. 

The Explorer finally sank to the icy depths yesterday, 75 miles north of Antarctica. _


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## SN NewsCaster

*NI grandfather among ice rescued (BBC News)*

A Belfast grandfather is one of the people plucked from the freezing waters of the Antarctic from a sinking liner.

More from BBC News...


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## SN NewsCaster

*Family relief after ship rescue (BBC News)*

Two sisters speak of their relief that their parents were rescued from a cruise ship that sunk.

More from BBC News...


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## lakercapt

Big news here as the vessel is operated by a firm from Toronto.(Not a Canadian ship) 
Amazed how people reporting the news can get so many facts wrong.
"A winter storn stopped the rescued passengers and crew getting away from the Chilean base". Its nearly mid summer down there.
A fist sized hole sinking a ship like that I find difficult to believe.
Antartic glacier ice is as hard as concrete and even then it does float so unless you are going fast you can avoid it.
As other noted the open lifeboats. Would you go to those regions with that type of equipment???? Still the original fittings and regulations have changed dramatically since then. Supposed to have been designed for that type of cruising but I saw little evidence of additional ice protection.
Never has been mentioned her port of registry or where she had the recent surveys.
Suppose you get what you pays for and though many people go on this eco type of cruise I have to wonder if they realise the risks involved.


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## SN NewsCaster

*Couple's Antarctic survival drama (BBC News)*

A couple from Shropshire are survivors of an Antarctic drama which saw the cruise ship M/S Explorer sink.

More from BBC News...


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## SN NewsCaster

*Chile completes shipwreck airlift (BBC News)*

The last of the passengers and crew rescued from a shipwreck in Antarctica are flown back to mainland Chile.

More from BBC News...


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## Geoff_E

Is that it then? Can the penguins get some peace now?

Apart, that is, from a decaying hulk full of pollutants in an area of the world where it didn't need to be. Sometimes I wonder about freedom of navigation!


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## Ian

Maybe there are no Navigators left, something has got to be done ???? Quickly


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## benjidog

According to an account by one of the rescued people " ..... the evacuees, clad in protective suits, passed the four-and-a-half-hour wait to be rescued by watching for whales."

Buggered if I would like to be in one of those lifeboats with whales swimming nearby - one accidental flick of the tail or whatever and over you go - expecially if any of the passengers happened to be Japanese! (EEK) 

Brian


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## randcmackenzie

*Ice*



lakercapt said:


> Big news here as the vessel is operated by a firm from Toronto.(Not a Canadian ship)
> Amazed how people reporting the news can get so many facts wrong.
> "A winter storn stopped the rescued passengers and crew getting away from the Chilean base". Its nearly mid summer down there.
> A fist sized hole sinking a ship like that I find difficult to believe.
> Antartic glacier ice is as hard as concrete and even then it does float so unless you are going fast you can avoid it.
> As other noted the open lifeboats. Would you go to those regions with that type of equipment???? Still the original fittings and regulations have changed dramatically since then. Supposed to have been designed for that type of cruising but I saw little evidence of additional ice protection.
> Never has been mentioned her port of registry or where she had the recent surveys.
> Suppose you get what you pays for and though many people go on this eco type of cruise I have to wonder if they realise the risks involved.


I saw her on TV, Port of Registry was Monrovia, so standard fairly well policed SOLAS gear for her year of build.

Though I have very limited experience in ice, I do remember it was standard practice in the North Atlantic to stop at night when passing through or caught by the 'Limit of Known Ice'.
Usually to have some other demented soul haring past oblivious at 18 knots.

Its a month from the summer solstice in Antartica, would there have been daylight in her latitude at midnight?


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## Harry Nicholson

benjidog said:


> "
> Buggered if I would like to be in one of those lifeboats with whales swimming nearby - one accidental flick of the tail or whatever and over you go - expecially if any of the passengers happened to be Japanese! (EEK)
> 
> Brian


Heyup Brian.
You used a naughty word and didn't get asterisked. Are you a special case?


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## lakercapt

randcmackenzie said:


> I saw her on TV, Port of Registry was Monrovia, so standard fairly well policed SOLAS gear for her year of build.
> 
> Though I have very limited experience in ice, I do remember it was standard practice in the North Atlantic to stop at night when passing through or caught by the 'Limit of Known Ice'.
> Usually to have some other demented soul haring past oblivious at 18 knots.
> 
> Its a month from the summer solstice in Antartica, would there have been daylight in her latitude at midnight?


Yes its daylight 24hrs per day at mom.

Stopping at night would have been a prudent move if the ice you were refering to was icebergs. They are of glacier origin and very very hard not like first year sea ice.
Stopping now would be frowned on as its assumed that the radars will pick up any berg. Not so and especially bergy bits, growlers etc.

Might be stardard for the year of build but thats not to stop the owners from retofitting modern lifeboats considering the area they would be trading in.
As I mentioned before would you go on a vessel like that to those poorly charted regions?


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## JoK

What are the regs for Antarctica anyways? 
Is it the same as the Arctic Regs in Canada?

They were astounding fortunate to get everyone off, get them picked up and get them back to Chile. 
And of course, being cynical, this means nothing will change.


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## SN NewsCaster

*Shipwrecked couple expected home (BBC News)*

A couple from Shropshire rescued from a cruise ship in the Antarctic are preparing to fly home, their daughter says.

More from BBC News...


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## SN NewsCaster

*NI ice survivor 'in good spirits' (BBC News)*

The wife of a Belfast man rescued from a sinking liner in the Antarctic says he cannot wait to get home.

More from BBC News...


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## william dillon

benjidog said:


> According to an account by one of the rescued people " ..... the evacuees, clad in protective suits, passed the four-and-a-half-hour wait to be rescued by watching for whales."
> 
> Buggered if I would like to be in one of those lifeboats with whales swimming nearby - one accidental flick of the tail or whatever and over you go - expecially if any of the passengers happened to be Japanese! (EEK)
> 
> Brian


I like the bit about the Japs, Brian, appeals to my sense ? of humour.(Jester) (Jester)


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## benjidog

Harry Nicholson said:


> Heyup Brian.
> You used a naughty word and didn't get asterisked. Are you a special case?


That word is not in the "naughty words" list used by the system Harry - I don't get special treatment - probably just as well!

Brian


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## Harry Nicholson

benjidog said:


> That word is not in the "naughty words" list used by the system Harry - I don't get special treatment - probably just as well!
> 
> Brian


Well that's a bugger! I could have been using all the time if known. Strange though that we can't use ****.


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## SN NewsCaster

*Shipwrecked couple return to UK (BBC News)*

A couple from Shropshire rescued from a cruise ship in the Antarctic fly in to Birmingham Airport.

More from BBC News...


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## MikeK

Please excuse this moment of weakness, but I just cannot resist the opportunity 
Bugger, bugger and last of all bugger (Smoke) (Smoke) 
Ah that feels much better, thank you gentlemen !!
Mike


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## benjidog

Oh dear - I am setting a bad example! My teachers always said I would come to nothing! 

On a serious note, I wonder what the chances are of salvaging this vessel before it does any lasting damage. Not clear how deep the water is around that area and presumably the ice would complicate and attempts to refloat her. Maybe one of our experts can outline the main issues with this type of recovery?

Brian


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## sparkie2182

a lot of buggering from a former hydrogaphic surveyor, mikek...............
nowhere near as much when i was doing the job................


on your very good point benji...........i suspect the main issues will have $ signs on them


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## RGascoyne

One recent source reported her as lying at 1000 feet below the surface.


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## non descript

If it stops other wretched so-called _explorers _going off to the Antarctic to ruin the area and upset the penguins _(and the odd polar bear that has misunderstood which hemisphere he should be in)_ it might have done some good, but it is an expensive way, in terms of environmental damage, to teach people not to mess about with one of the remaining areas of the world that man has not totally ruined.


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## Hamish Mackintosh

SN NewsCaster said:


> The wife of a Belfast man rescued from a sinking liner in the Antarctic says he cannot wait to get home.
> 
> More from BBC News...


Well if he got thrown out of "The lifeboat" he could always go around the corner to "Ma Carrols"


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## billyboy

wonder what the chances are of the whaling fleet from Japan striking that ice burg. or am i just being a wee bit pedantic again.


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## SN NewsCaster

*Ice cruiser is 'lucky to survive' (BBC News)*

A Belfast man rescued from a sinking liner in the Antarctic says he had a lucky escape.

More from BBC News...


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## MikeK

sparkie2182 said:


> a lot of buggering from a former hydrogaphic surveyor, mikek...............
> nowhere near as much when i was doing the job................
> 
> 
> on your very good point benji...........i suspect the main issues will have $ signs on them


Hi sparkie2182 (don't happen to have a younger brother by the name of CH16 do you ?) My recollection of that part of my life was long periods of boredom (buggering about - had to get another one in Brian !) interspersed with bursts of concentrated activity. Then back to the office for more of the same !

On the loss of the ship, I haven't been reading up on it - just relying on the television coverage - and I have not heard any mention of oil slicks as yet, or did I miss that ?

Mike


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## non descript

Copyright: Eric Martin in Stamford, of Tradewinds newspaper: published: 21:10 GMT, 28 November 2007 


_Chile’s navy says an aircraft has found a 1.5-kilometre-long “iridescent sheen” of fuel stretching from the site where a cruiseship sank off Antarctica. 
The navy also said about 2,500 birds and penguins are estimated to have been seen in the ice-laden area where the 2,400-gt Explorer (built 1969) hit an iceberg and sank. 
“It was confirmed that hydrocarbons were emerging at the water’s surface,” the navy said in a statement after its icebreaker Almirante Oscar Viel visited the site of the sinking. 

The Explorer listing before eventually sinking.
The Explorer went down on Friday after hitting an iceberg, with all 100 passengers and 54 V.Ships-provided crew safely evacuated. 
The ship’s owner, Gap Shipping of Sweden, says the Explorer had 190 cubic metres of light gas-oil when it sank. It also had lube oil and 200 litres of fuel on deck for its Zodiac boats. The tour operator was connected Gap Adventures of Toronto. 
A spokesman for Gap Shipping tells TradeWinds today that informal conversations with environmental experts suggest that the sheen reported by Chile’s navy may be from the fuel on deck for the Zodiacs. 
That, they said, will evaporate. 
If the ship’s tanks rupture, the experts say the light gas-oil will rise to the surface and evaporate, although slowly in cold weather, the spokesman says. Lube oil will not evaporate, but the small quantity will not likely lead to discernible pollution. 
“GAP are deeply concerned about any possible effects on the environment,” the spokesman said. 
Chile’s navy is working with the country’s environmental agencies to respond to the sheen. The fuel will be analyzed at its oceanographic lab in Valparaiso. 
After icebreaker crews worked to cleanup the area, the navy reported that the sheen had been reduced, but fuel continued to rise to the surface. 
Since the vessel is about 1,500 metres underwater, the navy says all it can do is “mechanically disperse” the fuel as it rises. _


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## Geoff_E

I challenge the "experts" on marine grade gas oil "evaporating, although slowly" even the lighter stuff is very persistent. 

190 m3 could spread a long way. If what's appearing on the surface is outboard fuel then it's probably petrol and, yes that should disperse without too much damage.

If this boatload of "voyeurs" hadn't been there in the first place it wouldn't have happened!


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## sparkie2182

hello mikek.........

no, my younger brother is called 500k.......

best regards..........


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## RayJordandpo

Paul UK said:


> When you look at all the faults that have been found in this ship by the authorities nothing would surprise me as to the safety aspects.
> 
> The good news is no loss of life.
> 
> Paul


Our Swedish chief engineer just told me that he joined that vessel over twenty years ago. The engine room was in such an appalling state that he walked off the same day and made his own way home.


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## MikeK

sparkie2182 said:


> hello mikek.........
> 
> no, my younger brother is called 500k.......
> 
> best regards..........


Nice one --touche (==D) 

Mike


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## Geoff_E

I've just come across this today in a clippings digest which I receive.

They just can't keep out of it! The sound of back-slapping is deafening. Complementing the deathly silence which invariably accompanies evidence of of badly run, downright dangerous ships and some, less than wholesome, Classification Societies. If the IMO is so good where is all the stuff in the Paris MOU detention pages coming from?

_IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, commenting on the sinking, last Friday (23 November), of the cruise ship Explorer off the coast of Antarctica, said that the successful rescue of all passengers and crew on board the ship served to highlight the work of the Organization in regulating several key aspects of maritime safety relevant to the accident. More than 150 people were rescued from the Explorer after she hit an iceberg and eventually sank in waters off Antarctica.

Mr. Mitropoulos told delegates at the 25th IMO Assembly that, while the loss of the ship was a matter of regret, the rescue of all on board was a cause for rejoicing. "The fact that there was no loss of life," he said, "must be credited to a well-executed and orderly evacuation operation and an equally well coordinated rescue operation involving search and rescue (SAR) services, both at sea and ashore, from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States - a truly international effort deserving an expression of due tribute."

He went on to say that "the good work of this Organization in regulating vital safety aspects, such as survival craft and arrangements, evacuation procedures and search and rescue operations should, in cases like the Explorer's, be acknowledged and appreciated." 

Source : SeaNews_

*The SAR operation certainly needs to be highlighted and praised, in the very best traditions of all those involved*, but the IMO??

I loved the bit about "......regulating vital safety aspects, such as survival survival craft....". I struggle to view open lifeboats, as "survival craft" in the 21st century, especially on a vessel undertaking voyages in Polar regions.


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## Tony Breach

Better we know the true facts than keep referring to media hype. What about the classification society & what exactly were the deficiencies that the vessel had - at least they were rectified & the ship was safely abandoned. Does a vessel of this size with a double hull require watertight bulkheads? Even if she does & they are not punctured by accommodation alleyways they will not require watertight doors as there are no openings which may be inconvenient - but would be a damn sight safer.

It is worth remembering that Liberia is signatory to IMO conventions as is good old Britain. Thus we should not throw stones from within our crystal house: Our wonderful & new QM2 was completed with a whole bunch of substandard bathrooms without prescribed smoke detectors & sailed with them for over 6 months: Similarly, P&O's Star Princess of Bermudan (British) registry (& many, many sister or similar type pax vessels of various flags) had flammable exterior deck coverings which resulted in a major fire. Then we have modern cruise vessels that roll to about 20 degrees when the helm is put, or volunteers to be put, hard over plus several more whose wheelhouse windows & pax ports cannot withstand the world's oceans in storm conditions. Although they may be required now, neither Waverley nor Balmoral had double bottoms a few years ago. It is as well that that those responsible for the international governance of the safety of those at sea are not responsible for airlines. 

It seems that the Explorer was probably a well found, well equipped, competently manned specialist vessel which was well operated &, when misfortune occurred, was abandoned in a safe, orderly & well managed operation. For that we must be thankful that the media jackals were denied the sensational disaster that they crave.

For the record, The rescuing ship Nordnorge herself grounded at Nesta in 2001, her sister Nordkapp grounded in the Antarctic at South Shetland in January of this year & her passengers were evacuated by Nordnorge. She was out of service for several months. Another near sister Nordlys damaged her cargo door at Honningsvag in September this year & her pax were repatriated & more than one cruise/voyage was cancelled. And these ships are owned by one of the finest & most professionally managed passenger shipping lines in the world. There but for the grace of God go we all!

Being a professional mariner I have great respect for all whose business takes them into great waters. Those who pay to go into freak waves & bigger lumps of ice than they put into their scotch glasses are volunteers. Have pity, my 200,000 ton cruise ship is so small.

Tony


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## Cisco

The antarctic cruise business is pretty much out of control these days, I have just posted a single day's business through Ushuaia in the gallery, the trio - Lyubov Orlova, Akademic Ioffe, and Clipper Adventurer - are fairly representative of the trade both in size and quality.

Some days 5 pass through... other days there is just one of the big ones on the BA - Valpo - BA run.

Edited to add: I've just put a pic of the Explorer 2 up, there a fair few photos of other ships in the trade scattered through my gallery.


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## Gavin Gait

http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/itm145_explorer-wreck.htm
HMS Endurance has located her wreck


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