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Antarctic Cruises

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#1 ·
Cruise ship to sail Antarctic
7 September 2006

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A big cruise ship due to sail Antarctic waters next January will change the face of tourism in one of the world's great wilderness areas, a New Zealand polar academic said Thursday.

The Golden Princess, due to make a three-week voyage through the islands, straits and channels of the Antarctic Peninsula, is 10 times bigger than cruise ships plying Antarctica's waters, and can carry 3,800 passengers and crew.

"It's evidence of the changing structure of the Antarctic tourism industry as it moves away from smaller vessels toward much larger vessels," Alan Hemmings, a polar policy specialist at Canterbury University, told National Radio.

The ship's 21-day voyage crests an eight-year surge in visitors to Antarctica that has quadrupled the number of tourists.

In the 2006-2007 tourist season, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators expected at least 28,000 people would make trips to the frozen continent. Auckland University researcher Maj de Poorter said there were also likely to be as many as 10,000 scientists.

Hemmings said that if the tourist ship sank, rescuers in the remote region would be overwhelmed.

"If anything happens to it we will have horrendous problems providing search and rescue and getting people ashore somewhere ... and even if they got ashore at some Antarctic station this (number) would be so far beyond the capacity of even that Antarctic station," Hemmings said.

Julie Benson, a spokesman for California-based Princess Cruises, said passengers aboard the 210 meter (689 foot) Golden Princess would "absolutely not" be exposed to any risk, and the ship was fully equipped for the journey. Passengers would not step foot on Antarctica.

Hemmings said the ship is registered in Bermuda which "is not any kind of party to the Antarctic Treaty system which establishes what rules relating to the environment are in place."

With the ship sailing from the United States, he hoped U.S. authorities would require an environment impact assessment to be carried out.

Invasive species were already established in the frozen continent, and Antarctica New Zealand environmental manager Neil Gilbert said ships, including cruise vessels, "are great vectors for moving species round the planet."

Unwanted species hitch rides on ships' hulls and are transported in ballast water, as well as latching onto everything from footwear and machinery to camping gear.

Poa annua grass has already become established on King George Island and North Atlantic spider crabs are in Antarctic Peninsula waters, he said.

"Part of the problem is we don't really know how, we don't have enough data at the moment ... to give us a very good indication of what sort of species are being transported into the Antarctic and neither do we know what their survivability is like once they are in the Antarctic," he said.

Gilbert said much more research is needed to define the problem.

The issue of nonnative species was "now on the agenda" of the Antarctic Treaty's committee for environmental protection, he added.
 
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#2 ·
Nations set new tourism limits for Antarctica
17 April 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - Countries with interests in Antarctica have endorsed U.S.-proposed mandatory limits on Antarctic tourism that aim to protect the continent's fragile environment, officials said Friday.

At the conclusion of a two-week meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, the parties to the 50-year-old Antarctic Treaty agreed to impose binding restrictions on the size of cruise ships that land passengers there and the number of people they can bring ashore at any one time, the officials said. The move mandates, under international law, current voluntary limits.

The changes will become legally binding once each of the 28 nations that have signed the treaty ratifies them. The revisions were adopted by consensus with no opposition, and no hurdles to ratification are expected, said Evan Bloom, leader of the U.S. delegation.

The restrictions do not contain a specific enforcement mechanism or penalties for limiting tourist operations. But they will require signatories to the pact to ensure that Antarctic tour operators bar ships with more than 500 passengers from landing sites, restrict landings to one vessel at a time per site and limit passengers on shore to 100 at a time.

They also mandate a minimum of one guide for every 20 tourists while ashore, according to the documents.

Limiting tourist access to the continent has taken on urgency because of a surge in visits and recent cruise ship accidents, including two groundings in the just-finished 2008-09 season and the highly reported sinking of a vessel in November 2007.

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators says visits have risen from 6,700 in the 1992-93 season to 29,500 in the 2006-07 season and 45,213 in 2008-09.

Members of the association developed the restrictions, adhere to them voluntarily and supported the proposal to make them mandatory.
 
#3 ·
Antarctic out in the cold
24 May 2009
The Sunday Times

Cruise lines are preparing to abandon the Antarctic rather than comply with an international agreement to use greener fuels in southern waters.

A number of cruise operators have already dropped Antarctica from their brochures, and more are likely to follow when changes to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol) comes into force in 2011.

Currently, cruise ships visiting Antarctica need only use the more expensive marine gas oil when sailing south of 60 degrees. The new law forces them to use the greener fuel for the entire round trip, adding tens of thousands of pounds to their costs.

Saga, Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery have responded by abandoning the region, while Hurtigruten has cut its Antarctic fleet from two ships to one.

It's not just environmental restrictions dictating the cruise lines' change in course. The rapid loss of the huge Wilkins Ice Shelf, as a result of global warming, is causing a sharp increase in iceberg numbers in the South Atlantic, making these already hazardous waters even more perilous, especially for cruise ships that weren't designed for use in Antarctic waters.

At the end of last month, about 270 square miles of ice broke away from the ice shelf, calving into tens of thousands of icebergs and hard-to-see growlers.
 
#4 ·
Penguin tourists trample on ice
22 November 2009
The Sunday Independent

'PENGUIN cruise tourists trapped in sea ice,' read the news story headline. This time the vessel was a Russian icebreaker, the Kapitan Khlebrnikov, which takes passengers through the icebergs of the Antarctic's Weddell Sea to Snow Hill Island rookery to watch emperor penguins. There were 105 people on board, including a BBC crew filming a nature documentary. Eventually, over a weekend, the ice gave way.

Last year 154 sightseers and crew of a cruise vessel, the Explorer, had to be rescued when the ship sank after hitting an iceberg. The terrified people drifted for hours in lifeboats, in darkness. Thankfully, no lives were lost.Concern remains that such tourist cruises will eventually cause irremediable damage to the region, the world's last great wilderness.

Wealthy people, about 30,000 this year, four times the numbers of 10 years ago, are travelling to look at penguins, seals and seabirds. Many are now gazing at the icy landscapes not only from medium-sized former research vessels that can carry about 200 people, but from enormous liners ploughing through the pristine waters as part of lengthy world cruises.

Last year the 100,000 tonne Golden Princess became the biggest cruise ship to sail into the region with 3,700 passengers and crew. This ship is a floating palace with five swimming pools, a casino and a putting green, and fares average about €3,500 a head. Other luxury liners pass through, but one positive side is that they do not land any sightseers which is not the story with smaller tour ships which can disembark groups that disturb wildlife, trample rare mosses and lichens and leave rubbish in their wake, causing general damage to a unique ecosystem.

In 1961, an international treaty designated Antarctica as a world natural reserve. Last year the treaty group called for a ban on vessels entering waters where ice coverage is more than 10 per cent without specially strengthened hulls. A ban on landings from ships with more than 500 passengers was also sought. But there is no proper system of regulation enforcement.

Global warming has seen temperatures rise in the region by three degrees centigrade in the past 30 years. This has resulted in glacier melt and ice shelf collapse. Antarctic tourism is policed by a body called the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators which says it is not worried by cruise liners as they don't get close enough to land to run aground and also sail in ice-free waters. It is the smaller ships that have caused the problems. Glossy magazine advertising for them boasts of their unique tailor-made wildlife adventures.

Opinion is divided on approval of such enterprises, The brochures look attractive and promise adventure, sometimes costing €4,500 to follow in the footsteps of Shackleton, for example. It is practically the same for safari trips to African, South American and Asian destinations. I must admit there have been times when I could have been tempted to look out on a wildnerness from a position of safety and comfort and perhaps have followed in someone or other's footsteps. Now I must plead old age and poverty. And I could think of better ways to spend a holiday than being stuck in sea ice!
 
#5 ·
Antarctic nations considering new controls on ships amid tourism explosion
9 December 2009

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Countries that manage Antarctica are considering new controls on ships visiting the frozen continent to reduce the growing threat of human and environmental disasters posed by exploding numbers of tourists, an official said Wednesday.

A proposal for a code to ensure ships plying the world's southernmost seas could withstand hitting an iceberg and other measures are being discussed at a meeting this week in New Zealand of more than 80 experts from signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, the international accord to oversee the region.

Antarctica's pristine environment, unpredictable and extreme weather, mostly uncharted waters and vast distances from habitation pose major dangers for vessels and major problems for rescuers in any emergency.

In the past, most shipping in Antarctica has been limited to scientific vessels bringing researchers or supplies. But traffic has burgeoned in recent years as tourists flock to see the world's last great wilderness.

Annual tourist numbers have grown from about 10,000 a decade ago to 45,000 last year. Tourists can pay between $3,000 and $24,000 for a two-week trip, in style ranging from basic hotel to all-out luxury.

Existing rules bar tourists or tour operators from leaving anything behind -- like garbage or human waste -- and protect animal breeding grounds.

But there are no formal codes on the kind of vessels that can use the waters or the kinds of fuel and other chemicals that they can carry.

In a recent scare, the Canadian cruise ship Explorer hit an iceberg and sank in November 2007. All 154 people aboard were saved by a nearby Norwegian vessel during a window of good weather, but light fuel oil continues to leak into surrounding waters from the Explorer's sunken hull.

Four other passenger ships have run aground in Antarctica in the past three years.

Trevor Hughes, the head of Antarctic policy at New Zealand's foreign ministry, said the sinking of the ice-strengthened Explorer was a wake-up call to Antarctic Treaty nations, and experts from all key members of the Antarctic Treaty now want a tough new code for shipping in Antarctica.

"Without regulations, we are going to have a disaster where a lot of lives are lost and where oil spills out into the environment, and we see penguins being smothered and poisoned by fuel oil in their rookeries," Hughes told The Associated Press.

The proposed code, which must be ratified by treaty states to become binding, would cover vessel design and construction for polar operations, equipment and crew training. In a similar move, the U.N. International Maritime Organization recently approved guidelines for ships in polar waters.

New Zealand is one of the dozen founding members of the Antarctic Treaty, along with the United States, Russia, Britain and others, and is among those leading the push for shipping regulation.

Steve Wellmeier, executive director of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, said the group supports new mandatory controls.

"We welcome consistency and oversight of all vessels, including passenger vessels," he said.

New Zealand and Norway are also pushing for a ban on carriage or use of heavy fuel oils in the Antarctic region, which is due to be ratified in 2010.

"Heavy fuel oils in the Antarctic Treaty area pose the greatest threat of long-term environmental damage," said Catherine Taylor, director of Maritime New Zealand, the agency responsible for fighting oil spills in the country's Antarctic zone.

The results of this week's conference will be presented at the Antarctic Treaty states' meeting in Uruguay in May.
 
#7 ·
New luxury cruises are scheduled to sail to Antarctica this year
July 27, 2020
CNBC Excerpt

While large cruise ships have mostly stopped sailing due to the pandemic, smaller ships are planning to sail to Antarctica this winter.

The No Sail Order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is currently in effect until Sept. 30, applies to cruise ships with the capacity to carry at least 250 passengers in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Most ships that visit Antarctica carry fewer than 200 passengers and do not enter U.S. waters.

Still, whether cruise ships will be able to sail later this year is anyone’s guess.

“Companies are game. The issue is more airlift and border restrictions than anything else,” said Ben Lyons, CEO of Eyos Expeditions, which operates superyacht expeditions to Antarctica. “They will be looking at a variety of means in order to make the season happen… like chartering aircraft… but lots will also depend simply on government restrictions.”

Here are several new vessels with plans to sail this season or next, all of which sport polar class, ice-rated hulls to go deeper into ice fields and access the most remote parts of Antarctica.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/new...cheduled-to-sail-to-antarctica-this-year.html
 
#8 ·
Antarctica cruise: The last frontier for a big at-last luxury adventure
CNN Excerpt
29th April 2022

Travelers to Antarctica always remember the first place they planted their feet on the frozen continent. For me, it was Portal Point, a narrow tip of land jutting westward from the Peninsula just north of the Antarctic Circle.

Crackling sea ice had formed a thin cap of white atop water the color of steel as a Zodiac boat zipped me to shore. I then high-kicked over its inflatable rim and took some celebratory steps in knee-deep slush, clomping out a few hundred more in route to a hilltop overlook.

All around me were blindingly white mountains donning blankets of ancient snow. Down below, doe-eyed Weddell seals took siestas on sea ice while penguins belly-surfed out of the southern seas.

More : Antarctica cruise: The last frontier for a big at-last luxury adventure
 
#9 ·
How to plan an epic trip to Antarctica, from booking the ship to choosing the best itinerary
Lonely Planet Excerpt
July 5, 2022

With its enormous ice shelves, vast emptiness and ethereal silence, Antarctica really is like nowhere else on earth. Its landscapes are a study in the color white: how it reflects light, accentuates mountains and crumbles atop the sea. Yet, it’s often the animals who leave the biggest impression. There are the tuxedo-clad penguins, who belly-surf out of the ocean to guard eggs from soaring skuas. Then there are the humpback whales, who breach from steel-grey fjords, and the doe-eyed Weddell seals, who ham it up for distant cameras while resting on wondering ice floes.

In Antarctica, everything is spectacularly extreme, from the constantly shifting weather patterns to the snot-freezing mid-day temperatures. Yet the journey can be remarkably pleasant thanks to increasingly comfortable expedition cruises, which shuttle you to remote bays for half-day adventures before you return to a warm shower and three-course meal. Sure, you’ll probably experience rough seas and frozen fingertips, but that’s a small price to pay for the journey of a lifetime.

More : How to plan an epic trip to Antarctica, from booking the ship to choosing the best itinerary - Lonely Planet
 
#10 ·
Passenger dies after giant wave smashes glass window on Antarctic cruise
euronews Excerpt
Dec 2, 2022

One person has died and four more were injured after a giant wave crashed into a cruise ship on an Antarctic expedition.

The Viking Polaris ship was sailing south of Cape Horn in stormy conditions.

The Norwegian cruise company Viking said the ship was battered by a “rogue wave” that smashed several panes of glass in the cabins.

"We wondered if we hit an iceberg. And there are no icebergs out here, but that's how it felt,” one passenger told North Carolina news site WRAL.

The incident occurred on Tuesday at 22.40pm local time, AFP reports.

More : One dead after Antarctic cruise ship hit by ‘rogue wave’
 
#11 ·
How Vacationers on Antarctic Cruises Are Filling in Scientific Gaps
Smithsonian Excerpt
March 7, 2023

Cocooned inside a submarine, I held my breath in anticipation as the vessel slowly descended beneath the surface of the Southern Ocean off the coast of Antarctica. Looking out the bubble-shaped acrylic window of the small, seven-person submersible, I watched the water go from bright aquamarine to inky black as we dove deeper and deeper, leaving behind the bright white snow and the last rays of sunlight.

When we reached our final depth of 402 feet—about the length of two-and-a-half Olympic swimming pools—the pilot flicked on the vessel’s high-powered exterior lights, revealing a previously hidden world at the bottom of the sea. I marveled at the vast array of plants and creatures that could survive in such harsh, chilly conditions, including bright orange starfish, yellow algae and sea urchins.

Girl wearing red coat and gray hat climbing into yellow submarine
The author climbs down into a seven-person Viking Expeditions submarine off the coast of Antarctica's Cuverville Island. Russell Hinkle
After traversing an underwater ridgeline with colorful marine life, the submarine—which was, of course, yellow and cheekily named after The Beatles’ Ringo Starr—gradually ascended to the surface.

More : How Vacationers on Antarctic Cruises Are Filling in Scientific Gaps
 
#12 ·
Antarctic's extreme weather drawing more cruise ship expeditions
FOX Weather Excerpt
June 6, 2023

Earth’s least-populated continent is growing in popularity which travel experts said wouldn’t be possible without advancements in the cruise industry.

Atlas Ocean Voyages is one of the latest companies to announce excursions on multiday trips to Antarctica, where weather conditions are known to be extreme.

"This waterway is where (the) cold Southern Ocean meets warm northern seawater (and) creates powerful currents that can sometime(s) deliver churning seas," a company representative said. "It can be exciting, to say the least."

More : Antarctic's extreme weather drawing more cruise ship expeditions
 
#13 ·
This Cruise Line Will Make Antarctica Trips Easier Next Year — Here's How
Travel + Leisure Excerpt
Dec 20, 2023

Adventure cruise line Lindblad Expeditions will launch shorter trips to Antarctica in 2024, with flights from Argentina to the seventh continent that bypass what’s normally a two-day sailing of the Drake Passage.

The new option will shave several days off the typical Antarctica itinerary, making it possible to do the trip in as little as eight days. The flyover trips also eliminate the need to sail the Drake, a waterway that’s known for its unpredictability: travellers sailing to Antarctica often wonder if they’ll experience a calm “Drake Lake” or see massive swells that result in a “Drake Shake,” as writer Christopher P. Baker detailed for T+L in 2022.

More : This Cruise Line Will Make Antarctica Trips Easier Next Year
 
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