MV Explorer (1969)
{{Short description|Antarctic Ocean cruise ship, sunk in 2007}}
{{other ships|MS Explorer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=MS-Explorer-2005-1.jpg |Ship caption=MS Explorer in January 2005 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name=*1969–1985: Lindblad Explorer
|Ship owner=*1969–1972: K/S A/S Explorer & Co, Oslo, Norway
|Ship operator= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Uudenkaupungin Telakka, Uusikaupunki, Finland |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= 1969 |Ship launched= 14 December 1969 |Ship completed= |Ship christened= |Ship renamed= |Ship acquired= |Ship in service=1969–2007 |Ship out of service= 23 November 2007 |Ship registry=*{{flagicon|Norway}} Oslo (1969–72)
|Ship fate= Sank after hitting an iceberg on 23 November 2007 at {{coord|62|24|S|57|16|W}} |Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|6924959}} }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage= 2398 |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{convert|239|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{convert|46|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= {{convert|14|ft|7|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship depth= |Ship ice class=ICE-1A (as per BNV, equals Finnish-Swedish IA) |Ship sail plan= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion= 2 × MaK diesel M452 AK each {{convert|1800|bhp|abbr=on}}, driving a single variable-pitch propeller, 4 blades |Ship auxiliary propulsion= 3 × MWM TBD 604 L6, 290 kW Alternators: Type: 3 × generators Still DK 559 D-4 325 kVA. 1 × MWM emergency diesel AD 323 V6. 1 × emergency generator Still DK 367-4/43 + KO 02/325 80 kVA. All generators 3 phase 440 V. {{convert|350|hp|abbr=on}} bow thruster. |Ship speed= {{convert|12.5|kn}} |Ship capacity= 104 passengers |Ship crew= 54 |Ship notes= }} |
MS Explorer or MV Explorer was a Liberian-registered cruise ship, the first vessel of that kind used specifically to sail the icy waters of the Antarctic Ocean. She was the first cruise ship to sink there,{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/24/ST2007112400367.html|title=Cruise Ship Sinks Off Antarctica|last=Reel|first=Monte|date=24 November 2007|access-date=13 May 2010|newspaper=The Washington Post}} after striking an iceberg on 23 November 2007. All passengers and crew were rescued.
{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/23/world/main3534814.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071125203812/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/23/world/main3534814.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 November 2007|title=154 Rescued From Sinking Ship in Antarctic: Passengers, Crew Boarding Another Ship After Wait In Lifeboats; No Injuries Reported|date=23 November 2007|access-date=23 November 2007|publisher=CBS News}}
The ship was commissioned and operated by the Swedish explorer Lars-Eric Lindblad. Its 1969 expeditionary cruise to Antarctica was the forerunner for today's sea-based tourism in that region.[http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/living_and_working/diaries/rrs_james_clark_ross/antarctic2003_2004/13_27/index.php Mar 28 – Hump Day] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607103139/http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/living_and_working/diaries/rrs_james_clark_ross/antarctic2003_2004/13_27/index.php |date=7 June 2011 }}, British Antarctic Survey.[http://www.iaato.org/tourism_overview.html Scope of Antarctic Tourism – A Background Presentation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016194609/http://iaato.org/tourism_overview.html |date=16 October 2007 }}, IAATO official website. The vessel was originally named MS Lindblad Explorer (until 1985), and MS Society Explorer (until 1992). Ownership of the vessel changed several times, the last owner being the Toronto-based travel company G.A.P Adventures which acquired Explorer in 2004.{{cite web |title=Expeditions aboard the legendary M/S Explorer |url=http://www.gapadventures.com/explorer/ |publisher=G.A.P. Adventures |access-date=8 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418013742/http://www.gapadventures.com/explorer/ |archive-date=18 April 2007}}
Explorer was abandoned in the early hours of 23 November 2007 after taking on water near the South Shetland Islands in the Southern Ocean, an area which is usually stormy but was calm at the time.{{cite news |url=http://news.aol.com/story/_a/doomed-ship-defies-antarctica-odds/20071123061209990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001 |title=Doomed Ship Defies Antarctica Odds |date=25 November 2007 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=28 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127153727/http://news.aol.com/story/_a/doomed-ship-defies-antarctica-odds/20071123061209990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001 |archive-date=27 November 2007 |url-status=dead }} Explorer was confirmed by the Chilean Navy to have sunk at an approximate position of {{Coord|62|24|S|57|16|W|display=inline}}, between the South Shetlands and Grahams Land in the Bransfield Strait;{{cite news|url=http://www.falklandnews.com/public/story.cfm?get=4760&source=3|title=MS Explorer – situation report|publisher=The Falkland Islands News|date=23 November 2007|access-date=24 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071125155650/http://www.falklandnews.com/public/story.cfm?get=4760&source=3|archive-date=25 November 2007|url-status=dead}} where the depth is roughly 600 m.[http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item947_explorer_sinking.htm MV Explorer Cruise Ship Sinking In South Atlantic], The Shipping Times, 23 November 2007 The Royal Navy Antarctic Patrol Ship {{HMS|Endurance|A171|2}}, whilst carrying out a hydrographic survey for the British Antarctic Survey and at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, later pinpointed Explorer{{'s}} final resting place as {{Coord|62|24|17.57|S|57|11|46.49|W|display=inline}}, at an approximate depth of {{convert|1130|m}} – a distance of {{cvt|4373|m}} from her reported sinking position. This is broadly consistent with the direction of the prevailing current.{{cite news |url=http://www.sgisland.org/pages/main/news55.htm#1 |title=Royal Navy Locates Antarctic Wreck of Cruise Liner |publisher=Fleet Media & Communication, Royal Navy |access-date=15 March 2008}}
History
File:Deception-Tourists.jpg (2006)]]
Explorer was commissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad, the Swedish-American pioneer of "exotic expedition" tours, and built in 1969 at Uudenkaupungin Telakka,{{langx|fi|Uudenkaupungin telakka}} a shipyard in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The ship was built to stay afloat with two compartments filled with water. Her original Finnish-Swedish ice class was 1C, which is relatively weak. It is not known when the ice class was uprated to 1A.{{cite news | title = Explorer syntyi talvisodan hengessä| publisher = Aamulehti | date = 23 November 2007 | url = http://www.aamulehti.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/55353.shtml |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071124141659/http://www.aamulehti.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/55353.shtml |archive-date = 24 November 2007|language=fi}} The vessel was originally named Lindblad Explorer, after Lars-Eric Lindblad, and was the first custom-built expeditionary cruise ship.
The first notable incident of the Explorer was when it ran aground near La Plaza Point, Antarctica, on 11 February 1972; her passengers, Lindblad among them, were rescued by the Chilean Navy.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503EFDE133FF930A25754C0A962958260 Lars-Eric Lindblad, 67, Pioneer Of Tours to Exotic Destinations], The New York Times, 13 July 1994. She was towed to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to Kristiansand, Norway, for repairs.[http://members.shaw.ca/erik.langeland/Ships/PassengerShips/LindbladExplorer_1969.html Erik Langeland] After being renamed the Lindblad Explorer, the ship ran aground off Wiencke Island in the Antarctic on 25 December 1979.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=125 taken off ship aground in Antarctic |date=27 December 1979 |issue=60509 |page=4 |column=G }} The 70 passengers and 34 of the crew were rescued by the Chilean Navy Antarctic transport {{ship|Chilean transport|Piloto Pardo||2}}, leaving the captain and a skeleton crew of 21 on board to await the arrival of a tugboat.{{cite journal|editor1-last=Caffin|editor1-first=J.M.|title=Lindblad Explorer runs aground | journal=Antarctic | volume=9 | issue=1 |pages=35–36 | url=http://antarctic.org.nz/pdf/Antarctic/Antarctic.V9.1.1980.pdf|access-date=3 February 2016|quote="On her way back to Ushaia, Tierra del Fuego, where she was due on December 30, the Lindblad Explorer passed by Wiencke Island, which lies between Anvers Island and the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. She was off Cape Astrup at the north-eastern end of the island when she ran aground. A sunken rock with less than 1.8m of water over it lies about 402m north of the cape."}}
Explorer was the first cruise ship to navigate the Northwest Passage in 1984. She was involved in the rescue of the crew of an Argentine supply ship in 1989 that had hit a rock ledge off Anvers Island, Antarctica.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2928759.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517111839/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2928759.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2008 |title=Iceberg blamed as passengers flee holed ship in icy waters |access-date=28 November 2007 |date=24 November 2007 |work=The Times | location=London | first1=Will | last1=Pavia | first2=Hannah | last2=Strange | first3=James | last3=Bone}} In 1998 Explorer was the first ship to circumnavigate James Ross Island;{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7108835.stm |title=Cruise boat sinking off Argentina |access-date=23 November 2007 |date=23 November 2007 |publisher=BBC News }} and in the same year, was claimed to be the first ship, as distinct from river boat, to sail {{convert|80|mi|km}} above Iquitos, Peru, to the point where the Marañón and Ucayali rivers meet to become the Amazon River.[http://www.eagle-eye.com/Locations/MV_Explorer.html M/S Explorer] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071125170547/http://www.eagle-eye.com/Locations/MV_Explorer.html |date=25 November 2007 }}
Explorer was depicted on at least two postage stamps issued by South Georgia, and one issued by the Falkland Islands.[http://www.philatelie-polaire.com/nouveautes/georgie.htm Philatelie Polaire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703151037/http://www.philatelie-polaire.com/nouveautes/georgie.htm |date=3 July 2007 }} South Georgia stamps.[http://www.falklands.gov.fk/pb/sg/merchant-ships.htm Falkland Isles Stamp] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128084951/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/pb/sg/merchant-ships.htm |date=28 November 2007 }} Explorer was nicknamed "the Little Red Ship".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7108835.stm#graphic|title=Stricken Antarctic ship evacuated|access-date=28 November 2007| work=BBC News | date=24 November 2007}} A scale model of Explorer is on display at Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Sinking
Explorer departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on 11 November 2007 on a 19-day cruise called Spirit of Shackleton run by GAP, intended to trace the route of the 20th-century explorer Ernest Shackleton through the Drake Passage (an area typically stormy with rough seas). After visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, she hit an iceberg on 23 November 2007 in the Bransfield Strait, close to King George Island in the Southern Ocean and near the South Shetland Islands. The iceberg struck by Explorer made a gash in the hull which allowed water to enter.
The Argentine Navy later said in a statement that it had observed "significant" damage. The official report of the sinking noted: "The damage sustained had to have extended along the length of the vessel from Cabins 308 to 314 for at least a distance of 3.6 meters, and, in all likelihood, had punctured and sliced holes along the shell plating."{{cite web|url=http://www.photobits.com/dl/Explorer%20-%20Final%20Report.PDF |title=Report of Investigation in the Matter of Sinking of Passenger Vessel EXPLORER (O.N. 8495) 23 November 2007 in the Bransfield Strait near the South Shetland Islands |publisher=Bureau of Maritime Affairs, Liberia |access-date=8 April 2009}}
Some passengers on Explorer reported a loud "bang" at the time of impact, although others reported that there had been no noticeable impact, or at least nothing more than the normal crunching of ice experienced when sailing through icy waters. One passenger reported sea water in their cabin at about 03:00 UTC.[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2007/11/25/2007-11-25_antarctic_cruise_ship_tourists_live_to_t-2.html Antarctic cruise ship tourists live to tell 'Titanic 2' jokes], The Daily News (New York), 25 November 2007.[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3196383.ece Ulster grandad set for home after Antarctic rescue drama], The Belfast Telegraph, 26 November 2007. Some reports also indicated that the ship had drifted into an iceberg on Explorer{{'s}} starboard side while the crew was assessing damage caused by the original impact, also to the starboard side of the ship.[https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2007/11/24/canadian_ship_lost_in_antarctic.html Canadian ship lost in Antarctic], The Toronto Star, 24 November 2007.
A mayday call was put out by the ship at 04:24 UTC, and rescue operations were quickly coordinated by the DPA Peter Burman in Sweden who directly took contact with the Prefectura Naval Argentina (the Argentinian equivalent of a coastguard) and the Chilean Navy Center for Search and Rescue. Chile dispatched the icebreaker {{ship|Chilean icebreaker|Almirante Óscar Viel||2}}, and nearby commercial ships; including the MN Ushuaia, the {{ship||National Geographic Endeavour}}, and the Norwegian Coastal Express ship {{MS|Nordnorge|1996|6}} which was operating as a passenger cruise ship at the time.{{cite news|url=http://www.armada.cl/p4_armada/site/artic/20071123/pags/20071123150603.html |title=Armada apoya labores de rescate de buque de pasajeros Explorer |date=23 November 2007 |publisher=Chilean Navy |language=es |access-date=23 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071125173719/http://www.armada.cl/p4_armada/site/artic/20071123/pags/20071123150603.html |archive-date=25 November 2007 |url-status=dead }} By 07:30 UTC all 91 passengers, nine guides and 54 crew,{{efn|name=fn1|The crew of 54 was made up largely of Filipinos, 45 of whom were aboard}} from over 14 countries,{{efn|name=fn2|G.A.P. Adventures listed: 24 Britons, 17 Dutch, 14 Americans, 12 Canadians and 10 Australians, four Swedes, four Irish, three Danes, two Argentines, two Belgians, two Chinese (Hong Kong), and single passengers from China, France, Germany, Japan, Colombia, Sweden. Not clarified, are earlier reports of 2 New Zealanders, 2 Bulgarians, and 1 Pole.}} had taken to the Explorer{{'s}} lifeboats.{{Cite news | last = Reel | first = Monte | title = Passengers of Doomed Cruise Ship Reach Chile With Vivid Accounts | newspaper = The Washington Post | pages = A18 | date = 25 November 2007}} They drifted for five hours until they were picked up by the Norwegian ship MS Nordnorge, which arrived on scene at approximately 10:00 UTC.{{cite web |url=http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2007/11/23/519082.html |title=Passengers are being rescued from M/S Explorer |access-date=23 November 2007 |date=23 November 2007 |publisher=Dagbladet }}
All of those rescued by Nordnorge were taken to the Chilean Frei Montalva Station on King George Island, from where they were subsequently airlifted by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft of the Chilean Air Force to Punta Arenas, Chile, in two separate flights; one on Saturday 24 November and the other on Sunday 25 November. Those passengers not taken to Punta Arenas (an estimated 70) were taken to Uruguay's Artigas Base. Explorer was completely submerged at 19:00 UTC, approximately 20 hours after the initial impact and damage to her hull.{{cite news|url= http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2331534120071124 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100418220412/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2331534120071124 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 18 April 2010 |title=Passengers unhurt after Antarctic ship hits ice |date=24 November 2007 |publisher=Reuters UK |access-date=23 November 2010}} Her wreck lies at {{coord|-62.404882|-57.196247|format=dms}}.
Explorer was designed, like most ships, with compartments which could be sealed off by watertight doors. The ship would not sink if holed and one compartment flooded, but was not safe if more compartments were flooded, either by a gash spanning compartments or imperfect sealing between compartments. GAP reported that there was a crack in addition to the hole, but it is not clear if it spanned compartments.[http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/26/america/ship.php International Herald Tribune]
In an article published on 8 December 2007, experts considered that Explorer was "perfect for ice navigation", and stated that the explanation of the sinking "doesn't add up" and that "essential pieces of the story are missing".{{Cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1203/p04s01-wogi.html|title=Questions swirl around the sinking of the MS Explorer|date=3 December 2007|work=Christian Science Monitor|access-date=15 July 2019|issn=0882-7729}}
{{clear left}}
Investigation
File:Lindblad Explorer side view.jpg, New Zealand.]]
The investigation into the sinking of Explorer was carried out by the Liberian Bureau of Maritime Affairs. The report into the accident was released in April 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.photobits.com/dl/Explorer%20-%20Final%20Report.PDF |title=Report of Investigation in the Matter of Sinking of Passenger Vessel Explorer (O.N. 8495) 23 November 2007 in the Bransfield Strait near the South Shetland Islands |publisher=Bureau of Maritime Affairs, Liberia |access-date=8 April 2009}} The report cites the decision by Captain Bengt Wiman,Wall Street Journal, 16–17 Feb. 2019, p. B8 age 49, to enter the ice field based on his knowledge and information available at the time as the primary reason why Explorer was so severely damaged. "He was under the mistaken impression that he was encountering first year ice, which in fact, as the Chilean Navy Report indicated, was much harder land ice."{{cn|date=November 2020}}
Passengers reported seeing red paint on the passing ice less than thirty minutes prior to when the flooding was reported, another indication that the vessel was passing through compact and hard ice. The master of Explorer was very experienced in Baltic waters, but he was unfamiliar with the type of ice he encountered in Antarctic waters. The report's investigating officer could not convince GAP that it was their responsibility to retrieve the ship's voyage data recorder, after the master failed to ensure its transfer from the ship despite being reminded to do so. The report also found that, given that the GAP staff "served the function of crew members", they should have had "the required safety training and documents as seafarers".
The report praises the performance of the master and crew in organizing and evacuating the passengers, and notes that lives were likely saved due to the actions of these individuals.
Notes
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References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|IMO 6924959}}
- [http://www.photobits.com/dl/Explorer%20-%20Final%20Report.PDF Bureau of Maritime Affairs report] on the sinking.
- A [https://www.flickr.com/photos/andywhite70/albums/72157603320709953 first-hand passenger account] of the sinking with photos.
{{Wikinews|Canadian cruise ship sinking in Antarctic | MS Explorer cruise ship passengers are safe}}
- {{cite news |last1=Bignell |first1=Paul |title=The Sinking of the Explorer|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/the-sinking-of-the-explorer-1667532.html |work=The Independent |date=12 April 2009}}
- {{cite web |url= https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/7305/model-lindblad-explorer |title=Model: Lindblad Explorer |author=Lars-Eric Lindblad |date=26 January 1996|publisher= Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand|access-date=14 November 2020}}
{{1972 shipwrecks}}
{{1979 shipwrecks}}
{{2007 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|62.24|S|57.16|W|type:landmark|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Explorer}}
Category:Cruise ships of Norway
Category:Maritime incidents in 1972
Category:Maritime incidents in 1979
Category:Maritime incidents in 2007
Category:Ships built in Finland
Category:Ships sunk by icebergs
Category:Ships sunk with no fatalities
Category:Shipwrecks in the Southern Ocean
Category:Tourism in Antarctica