GAP searches for new ship

Adventure World, GAP’s general sales agent in Australia, said offers of vessels had been made but no firm plans were yet in place. The move comes after 100 passengers, including 10 Australians, were evacuated from the Explorer when it hit a submerged iceberg off King George Island.

All passengers booked on Antarctic voyages on the Explorer up to January 4 will receive a full refund with those due to travel after that asked “to be patient” while a new ship is found.

Adventure World marketing manager Emi Weir said it had around 40 forward bookings. She described the accident as a “freak” and denied speculation that the Explorer had not been seaworthy.

“It goes under rigorous inspections all the time,” she said.

The MS Explorer beginning to heel starboard after hitting an iceberg.
Photo: AFP

A sinking ship carrying 154 passengers and crew on a cruise deep off the Argentinian coast in the Antarctic Ocean was evacuated today, a British coastguard spokesman said.

All people on board the MV Explorer had been evacuated into lifeboats except two senior officers, Andy Cattrell of Falmouth coastguard told BBC television, specifing that the vessel was near the South Shetland Islands.

The vessel had suffered serious damage to its hull after an unspecified incident, he said, adding that another vessel, the Antarctic Dream, was on its way to help rescue the evacuees.

"She's got 100 passengers on board -- the other 54 are crew members," said the spokesman for Falmouth coastguard. "All the passengers and crew apart from the master and chief officer have now abandoned the vessel on lifeboats."

He did not know what caused the sinking, but said: "It's something fairly strong to damage the hulls."

The weather was believed to be relatively good but the water was inevitably very cold.

"You certainly don't want anyone in the water. As they're all in lifeboats they should be fairly secure for the short-term at least," he said.

The Antarctic Dream was about an hour's sailing time away, he said. "The next step forward we believe is when the next vessel the Antarctic Dream arrives at the scene."

Cruise ships regularly take passengers to the remote region to view icebergs and other Antarctic natural features at this time of year.

According to one firm that operates cruises on the ships, the vessel is relatively small.

"She is small enough to allow us to visit small inlets and bays, yet large enough to ensure a comfortable and secure voyage," according to information on the website of the firm Noble Caledonia.

"The officers are predominantly Scandinavian and the crew Filipino," said the website.

 Some Australians were among 154 passengers and crew who evacuated the cruise ship

.
"They were transferred to another ship which is in the area ... and everyone is safe and accounted for at this point,'' Susan Hayes, vice president of marketing for Gap Adventures, told CNN.

A Chilean navy captain said earlier that the ship had struck an iceberg.
The sight-seeing pleasure ship had left from Ushuaia in the southern tip of Argentina, Hayes said. The tourists on board included 13 Americans as well as people from Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and other countries, she said.