"Explorer" Goes Down

Yesterday's two-part post on the expedition ship "Explorer's" unfortunate encounter with an iceberg, or submerged ice, had an inevitable ending. Twenty or so hours after the ship hit the ice, she sank. I intentionally wrote "unfortunate" rather than "tragic," because no one died and no one has been reported as having suffered more than hypothermia, which would have been tragic indeed. A number of reports of the incident are available online, but the piece written by Moira Welch and Emily Mathieu of the Toronto Star carries a special poignancy because the ship as owned by Toronto-based G.A.P. Adventures. They wrote, "The first cruise ship built to ply the waters off Antarctica became the first ever to sink there." R.I.P. "Explorer."

At last report, many (or perhaps most) of the passengers were airlifted from a Chilean air base to Punta Arenas, Chile, on Saturday and the rest, who seem to have spent a night at an Uruguayan base, were expect to follow on Sunday.

Details were posted on the G.A.P. Adventures website: "Explorer Update (24 November 18:40 EST) All passengers and crew, including the captain of M/S Explorer, are completely safe and in good spirits.The first flight from King George Island has now landed in Punta Arenas, Chile. 75 passengers and 2 staff/crew members were onboard the flight. 11 passengers and 66 staff and crew remain on King George Island and, weather permitting, will be flown to Punta Arenas tomorrow. All passengers are safe and in good spirits. One passenger has reported a sore foot and has been taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. Representatives from the consular offices of Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States are on the ground in Punta Arenas working with G.A.P Adventures staff to assist passengers. Flights home from Punta Arenas are being coordinated."