'Extreme" Tourism

**MgicTwnger** · 11-23-2007, 03:44 PM

As most people have no doubt heard, a small cruise ship has struck an iceberg and is sinking near the Shetland islands in the Antartic. Thankfully all aboard have been rescued, but the fate of the ship is uncertain.

This has gotten me thinking about recent trends in the travel industry, including diving. If you have the money, you can go in relative comfort to places that were until recently almost inaccessable: polar regions, rain forests, coral reefs, archeological sites, and the like. I have been lucky enough to have visited the deep jungles of the upper Amazon, the Galapagos islands, an digs in Egypt.

However careful we might be about not disturbing or harming the environment, I doubt that it does a penguin any good having a tourist shove a camera in its face. Our very presence disturbs things.

Let's hear you thoughts!

Ally · 11-23-2007, 04:00 PM

The loss of M/V Explorer today highlights the very real dangers of 'sightseeing' cruises around Antarctica. Explorer was an ice class vessel, yet she has foundered....last year Hurtigruten's M/V Nordkapp ran aground off Deception Island...close to where Explorer has had her accident. Thankfully Nordkapp was not lost and she continues to sail today....Explorer, on the other hand, is looking unlikely to be saved.

The large cruise lines have often sent smaller non ice class vessels into the area...although the only one to actually enter Antarctic waters til lately, has been Marco Polo which is a Russian built icebreaker/cruise ship.

Shortly after Nordkapp went aground last year, Princess sent their giant 'Golden Princess' into the area while doing a Cape Horn cruise. She didn't run into any problems.....probably more luck than judgement.

Next year Carnival have said they will be sending their latest newbuild, Carnival Splendor, into the area...she is 110,000 tonnes and carries almost 4000 people.

These leviathans are warm water ships, they are not ice class vessels.

I honestly fear what could potentially happen to the pristine Antarctic environment if a ship the size of Splendor gets into dire straights.

I visited Chilean fjords, Darwin Canal, Cape Horn and the amount of ice there was quite a concern....especially as our ship was not ice class. Our ship was a fraction of the size of Splendor, but had she come to grief...the environmental damage would have been the same.

I seriously doubt the cruise lines really consider the risks involved...all in the name of 'extreme tourism'......

**Scuba Mama** · 11-29-2007, 11:18 PM

A news station showed video from the sinking. One of the passengers had taken.

She was standing on deck showing all the ice that was around them making comments to that effect then the horns sounds and the captain gave orders.
She made a comment saying water in coming in on the third deck.

Everyone got off and was safe.

I do agree that putting more ships and bigger out there for Eco is not good. I think if the ships cared about Eco they would be smaller, take smaller groups and have the expertise to handle such harsh environment. A least divers know they are going into a world that can kill, I don't think these people gave it a second thought until the alarm went off.

Scuba Mama