Heritage Expeditions

Expedition Search

Explorer Update - 25/11/07 2130GMT

Incident involving the MV Explorer
25 November 2007
Update 2130 hrs GMT

At 02:24 Local Time MV Explorer issued a distress call from position 62 23 32 S, 57 16 09 W, Bransfield Strait.  Initial reports indicate that she was holed by ice on the starboard side. The MV Explorer is operated by IAATO member G.A.P Adventures.

Three IAATO vessels, MV Endeavour, MV Nordnorge, and MV Antarctic Dream were closest to Explorer, with MV Endeavour being the first on the scene and providing the initial command response control centre.

After initial attempts to contain the damage, the order was given to abandon ship. The ship’s entire complement of 91 passengers, 54 crew and 9 staff were evacuated safely to the lifeboats and subsequently to the MV Nordnorge. Zodiacs were also launched to assist with the evacuation. Passengers were all safely onboard MV Nordnorge by 0730 local time.

The MV Nordnorge proceeded to Maxwell Bay, King George Island, where the intention is to fly the MV Explorer passengers and crew to Punta Arenas, Chile as soon as weather permits:  probably November 24. The Chilean government has kindly granted permission for all personnel to stay at the station. Should weather conditions prohibit the aircraft flying into King George Island it may be necessary to transport all personnel by ship back to South America.

Reports indicated at that time that Explorer was listing over 45 degrees. The vessel is in 500 meters of water but was drifting due to wind and weather. The Brazilian vessel, Ary Rongel, was proceeding to the area to recover the lifeboats, and Chilean Naval helicopters were over flying the vessel. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the vessel has now sunk.

In terms of environmental implications, the vessel operates on MGO and as the incident occurred is in open water with an estimated depth of 500m, it is expected that any fuel seepage will disperse promptly with no adverse effects on the environment. There is concern regarding lube oil, plastics and other pollutants.

Nationalities of Passengers + Staff
Australia: 11
Belgium: 2
United Kingdom: 23+ 1
Canada: 11+1
China 1
Denmark: 3
Netherlands: 17
France: 1
Germany: 1
Hong Kong: 2
Ireland: 3+1
Japan: 1
Switzerland: 1
United States: 13+1

Crew:
Philippines: 45
Sweden: 4
New Zealand: 2
Poland: 1
Bulgaria: 2

M/V Explorer Statistics
Capacity: 108 passengers, 65 crew
Length: 72.8 meters
Width: 14.0 meters
Draft: 4.48
Gross Tons: 2398
Double Hull, Ice Class rating DNV Ice A

G.A.P. Adventures has been an IAATO Member since 2005. Their vessel the M/V Explorer began offering tourist trips in Antarctica since 1970 under the management of several IAATO companies.

G.A.P is permitted to travel to Antarctica by the Canadian Government/Environment Canada.

The vessel was certified to operate by numerous overarching international regulations which include the ship’s registry, DNV, ISM (International, Classification Society and Port State Inspections etc.

IAATO is a member organization founded in 1991 to advocate, promote and practice safe and environmentally responsible private sector travel to the Antarctic. IAATO currently has 99 members.  IAATO Members work together to develop, adopt and implement operational standards that mitigate potential environmental impacts. Numerous guidelines have been adopted over the last 17 years that have proven to be successful methods in avoiding impacts. Those include but are not limited to: site specific guidelines, site selection criteria, passenger to staff ratios, limiting numbers of passengers ashore, boot washing guidelines and the prevention of the transmission of alien organisms, wilderness etiquette, garbage policy, ship scheduling and vessel communication procedures, emergency medical evacuation procedures, emergency contingency plans, reporting procedures, marine wildlife watching guidelines, station visitation policies and more.

In addition IAATO members agreed several years ago regarding an emergency contingency plan to ensure safety of passengers and crew. These procedures were followed during this incident.

This is the first incident of its kind with a specially designed tourist vessel in the last 50 years of Antarctic tourism. Very few incidents have occurred since IAATO began.