BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- A Canadian cruise ship struck submerged ice off Antarctica early Friday and sank hours later, but all 154 passengers and crew took to lifeboats and were plucked to safety by another cruise ship, authorities said.

Chilean navy vessels in the area lost sight of the stricken MS Explorer some 20 hours after the pre-dawn accident, and wreckage indicated it had gone under completely, according to a navy press officer who declined be identified in accordance with department policy.


"Our units in the area aren't seeing anything," he told The Associated Press by telephone. "The Explorer is not visible any longer."


The passengers and crew were taken to a Chilean base and no injuries were reported, although the survivors reportedly endured subfreezing temperatures for several hours in bobbing lifeboats before they were picked up by a Norwegian liner.

Safety fears after 154 tourists rescued on Antarctic cruise
ALASTAIR DALTON
TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT
SAFETY fears were last night raised over "extreme holiday" tours after a ship was holed by ice and started sinking off Antarctica.

More than 150 people aboard the MS Explorer were forced to endure sub-zero conditions in open lifeboats after a fist-sized hole was punched in its hull, which started flooding the vessel. Passengers and crew were rescued by another cruise ship.

Maritime experts last night questioned whether some vessels being used in the remote area are suitable for such tours.

Operators also warned that holidaymakers must be aware that extreme holidays involve "inherent risks".

Mark Dickinson, the assistant general-secretary of maritime union Nautilus UK, said: "The growing trend to run cruises in increasingly exotic and remote locations, often in inherently dangerous conditions, is an issue of increasing concern.

"There are many questions about the suitability of some ships to operate in such potentially adverse conditions, often well away from adequate search-and-rescue cover."

The rescued passengers, who include 24 Britons, were last night taken to a Chilean base in Antarctica after being picked up following their lifeboat ordeal.

They endured temperatures of -5C before being transferred first to Endeavour, another cruise ship, and then the Norwegian vessel Nord Norge.

One UK-based expert said: "Passengers had to wait in cold conditions in open lifeboats. The vessel was not breaking any rules by having such lifeboats rather than the more closed, newer ones. But you have to question whether a vessel visiting icy waters with elderly passengers aboard was as equipped as it might have been."

The tourists had paid about £4,400 each for the 19-day tour.

The drama started at 5:24am British time when the Explorer "hit ice" in the Bransfield Strait off King George Island. Seas were calm and winds light, but it was dark.

Peter Svensson, the Explorer's First Officer, said: "We were passing through ice as usual. We do that every day. But this time something hit the hold and we got a little leakage downstairs."

The captain, who is believed to be Swedish, ordered passengers to take to the lifeboats 90 minutes later. He and another crew member remained on board, but later abandoned ship.

Mr Svensson said the rescue had gone smoothly. "No one was hysterical, they were just sitting there nice and quiet, because we knew there were ships coming."

Arnvid Hansen, the captain of the Nord Norge, said it had taken about an hour to transfer the passengers from the lifeboats.

He said: "The passengers are having warm food and drying their clothes. Some are cold but none has hypothermia. We are giving them as many clothes as we can."

Susan Hayes, a spokeswoman for Gap Adventures, which operates the Explorer, said: "The ship ran into some ice. It was submerged ice and the result was a hole about the size of a fist in the side of the hull so it began taking on water, but quite slowly.

"It is listing. There is a possibility we may lose the ship."

Maritime experts told The Scotsman the Explorer must have suffered other damage to have listed so quickly, first by 25 degrees, then by 30-40 degrees.

They said this could suggest other holes, or problems with the 2,400-tonne vessel.

Dr Claude Daley, a polar-ship expert at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, said: "The ship should not have listed so much with such a small hole, which looks like it may have been made by rock rather than ice. There may have been deficiencies with the watertight doors."

Five faults, some involving the watertight doors, which should have contained the water flooding in, were found in an inspection of the Explorer in Greenock in May. Toronto-based Gap Adventures, which operates the vessel, said that they had been repaired.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspection found five faults, missing search-and-rescue plans and lifeboat maintenance problems. Watertight doors were described as "not as required", and fire-safety measures also attracted criticism. The agency said the faults had been fixed before the vessel sailed.

It is understood that Chilean inspectors found six deficiencies during an inspection in Puerto Natales in March. These included two related to safety of navigation. However, a passenger safety certificate was issued for the vessel last month.

The area where the accident occurred is popular with tour companies because it is easy to reach from South American.

Per-Magnus Sander, co-owner of Norwegian Polar Quest holidays, who run trips using a small fleet of vessels to both polar areas, said there are "inherent risks" to such voyages.

He said: "Accidents do happen but it is all a question of degree.

"I don't think people come to us looking for the excitement and danger of this region - it's more to do with the uniqueness and untouched nature of the area. Of course, when people travel with us, safety is paramount."

The holidaymakers were two-thirds of the way through their 19-night tour, which started on the southern tip of Argentina.

VITAL ROLE FOR SHIP LOOK-OUTS
AVOIDING polar hazards such as icebergs remains, ultimately, the responsibility of sharp-eyed sailors, according to experts.

Radar equipment aboard ships can detect larger icebergs some 20 to 30 miles away and they can also be tracked by satellite.

However, smaller pieces of ice - known as bergy bits and growlers - are still invisible to such technology and it is left to the human eye to spot them, assuming they are visible at all.

Ships operating in icy waters should have the additional protection of reinforced hulls which can withstand ice collisions.

However, doubts were raised last night over whether the MS Explorer was suitable to operate in Antarctic waters, despite being used for cruises there for years.

Dr Claude Daley, a professor of ocean and naval architectural engineering at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, said the vessel's ice-class designation was "at the very low end of what would be considered appropriate for polar waters".

He said such an ice class would only be capable of working in level ice up to about 32in (80cm) thick, but added:

"It could strike thicker ice, as long as speeds were very slow."

The UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the Mariners' Handbook - a maritime equivalent of the Highway Code - gave only general guidance about sailing in icy waters.

Vessels are required to always operate at a "safe speed" and to "keep a proper look-out", but the Explorer is a Liberian-registered vessel outwith UK controls. However, Joe Collins, the MCA's head of navigation safety, said the masters of all vessels were likely to be at an increased state of vigilance and have dedicated look-outs in iceberg areas.

The UK Hydrographic Office, part of the Ministry of Defence, said charts for the area where the incident happened were first published in 1949, with the latest edition in 2003.

However, it is not known whether the Explorer was carrying these.