Antarctica Cruise Disaster Raises Tourism Concerns

John Roach
for National Geographic News

November 27, 2007

Cruise ship accidents in Antarctica may be "inevitable," at least one expert says.

The current surge in polar tourism and a reported increase in icebergs are raising safety and environmental concerns—which were brought boiling to the surface by this past weekend's sinking of the M.S. Explorer.

(Related photo gallery: Antarctic wonders lure cruise tourists.)

All 154 passengers and crew aboard the Explorer were safely plucked from lifeboats after bobbing in relatively calm seas for about five hours Friday morning. No one was injured.

Some experts consider the ship's demise a fluke—it was built to ply icy waters and was helmed by an experienced captain.

Nevertheless, the Antarctic tourism boom of recent years has made for an accident waiting to happen, according to sea explorer and writer Jon Bowermaster, a National Geographic Society Expeditions Council grantee.

Bowermaster was on the first vessel to arrive on the accident scene—the National Geographic Endeavour, operated by the Lindblad Expeditions cruise company in partnership with the National Geographic Society.

(Read Bowermaster's firsthand account of the rescue operation. National Geographic News is owned by the National Geographic Society.)

Tourism Boom

In 1992 about 6,000 tourists journeyed to Antarctica.

This cruise season—roughly November through February, during the Southern Hemisphere's summer—more than 30,000 tourists are expected to make the trek on some 50 different ships, according to the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, a trade group.

Counting crew, the total number of people to visit the region may surpass 50,000.

"Just statistically, it's inevitable that accidents will happen," Bowermaster said.

Many of the ships and crew newly plying the Antarctic are inexperienced with the icy conditions and fast-changing weather that are characteristic of the region, Bowermaster added.

And unlike the Explorer, many of the ships are enormous and not reinforced to withstand blows from the ice.

Last year, for example, the cruise ship Golden Princess carried 2,425 passengers and 1,120 crew to the icy region. A few other ships had more than 1,500 people each.

"What will happen when there's a bad accident with a larger vessel that's not ice strengthened and the conditions are not as perfect as they were this time?" said Jim Barnes, executive director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, an association of environmental groups.

Among the coalition's concerns is the impact that fuel oil from such a large vessel would have on the marine environment.

Smaller ships like the Explorer and the National Geographic Endeavour use a light-grade diesel fuel that has less impact on the environment than the heavy oil used by larger ships—though neither would be good if spilled, Barnes said.

Too Many Tourists?

The increase in tourism has brought new pressures to the Antarctic wilderness as well. At the height of the summer tourist season, for example, boats will visit the same penguin colony day after day.

The onslaught has caused many members of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition to consider a mandated cap on tourists allowed to visit Antarctica each year.

"Do we want to have Disneyland down there? Or do we want to have some rational approach to managing the beautiful wilderness area—habitat area—that is the Antarctic?" Barnes said.

The coalition is hoping signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty—which sets regulations for how nations operate in the region—will impose new controls on the tourism industry.

Denise Landau is the executive director of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. The trade group has its own set of environmental guidelines that all members follow, she said.

"So far, we've been able to manage the tourist numbers and the numbers of ships and aircraft to minimize all environmental impact," she said.

Landau added that the Antarctic Treaty system allows for freedom of access, so "you can't actually stop people from going there. All you can do is manage what you've got, and that's what we do."

Barnes, however, said that treaty nations are already discussing ice-strengthening standards for boats. And the signatories passed a nonbinding resolution at a meeting earlier this year on how many passengers should be allowed on boats that make landfall.

Any regulation must be ratified by all 28 full consultative parties to the treaty.

"It's a slow process," Barnes said.

Experience Counts

The increased ship traffic in the Antarctic is also putting captains' experience levels in the spotlight, according to Bowermaster, the writer.

"Especially in late December and all of January and part of February, there're a lot of inexperienced captains coming and a lot of inexperienced ships," he said.

"That, to me, is more of an issue than this fluke accident that we saw the other day."

Leif Skog is vice president of marine operations for Lindblad Expeditions in Seattle, Washington. Lindblad operates the National Geographic Endeavour.

Skog said the captain's experience is the most crucial aspect of any Antarctic cruise.

"You have to have experience to interpret the ice conditions, to understand what you can go through without problems and what you should be careful about and what you should avoid altogether," he said.

But with so many new ships visiting the region, there are insufficient experienced hands to go around, he added.

Experience may become even more important as the climate continues to warm, according to Jo Jacka, chief science editor with the Journal of Glaciology.

While the number of icebergs in the water in any given year naturally fluctuates, icebergs from disintegrated ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula are on the rise, he noted.

"And those breakouts, I think it's now completely agreed, are a consequence of a warmer climate," he said.

Skog captained the Explorer when it was owned by Lindblad in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was shocked to hear ice took the ship down and suspects there's more to the story.

"Something else is added to it, but I just don't know what it is," he said. "Because I have gone through pack ice a whole lot with that ship, and she's just amazing."

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