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BRIEF HISTORY
The MS Explorer,
formerly named MS Lindblad Explorer (1969-1985) and then MS
Society Explorer (1985-1992), was a Liberian-registered cruise
ship designed for Arctic and Antarctic service. It was one
of the world's most popular and famous exploration cruise
vessels, and since 2004 owned by Toronto-based travel
company G.A.P Adventures.
The Explorer was abandoned in the early hours of November
23, 2007 after taking on water, reportedly as the result of
striking an iceberg, near the South Shetland Islands in the
Southern Ocean. In addition to being the first cruise ship
ever built specifically to ply the frigid waters of the
Antarctic Ocean, the Explorer became the first ever to sink
there. The Explorer was confirmed by the Chilean Navy to
have sunk at approximately position: 62 degrees 24 minute
South and 57 degrees 16 minutes west, between South
Shetlands and Grahams Land, in the Bransfield Strait, where
the depth is about 2000 feet.(600 m)..
FULL HISTORIC ABOUT THIS SHIP
Commissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad,
the Swedish-American pioneer of exotic expedition tours, the
Explorer was built in 1969 at Nystads Varv shipyard in
Uusikaupunki, Finland. The vessel was originally named the
Lindblad Explorer in honor of Lars-Eric Lindblad and was the
first custom built expeditionary cruise ship, and it
navigated the Northwest Passage in 1984. On February 11,
1972, the Lindblad Explorer ran aground near La Plaza Point,
Antarctica. It was towed to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then
to Kristiansand, Norway for repairs.
The Society Explorer was involved in the rescue of the crew
of an Argentinian supply ship that had hit a rock ledge off
Anvers Island, Antarctica in 1989.
In 1998 Explorer was the first ship to circumnavigate James
Ross Island; and the same year, it is claimed to have been
the first ship to sail 80 miles (130 km) above Iquitos, Peru
to the point where the Marañón and Ucayali rivers meet to
become the Amazon River. The Explorer was depicted on at
least two postage stamps issued by South Georgia. The
Explorer was nicknamed the Little Red Ship.
The ship departed its port in Ushuaia, Argentina on November
11th, 2007, on a 19-day cruise intended to trace the route
of 20th century explorer Ernest Shackleton through the Drake
Passage (an area typically stormy with rough seas). After
visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island the
Explorer apparently hit an unidentified submerged object in
the Bransfield Strait close to King George Island in the
Antarctic Ocean, near the South Shetland Islands on November
23, 2007, which was believed to cause a 10 by 4 inch (25 ×
10 cm) gash in the hull.
A mayday call was put out by the ship, and rescue operations
were quickly coordinated by the Prefectura naval (Coast
Guard Corps) of the Argentine Republic, and the Chilean Navy
Center for Search and Rescue. Chile dispatched the
icebreaker Almirante Viel, and nearby commercial ships
including the MN Ushuaia, the National Geographic Endeavor,
and the Norwegian Coastal Express ship MS Nordnorge, acting
as a cruiseship in the winter season. At approximately 3
a.m., 91 passengers, 9 guides and 54 crew, from over 14
countries, were evacuated from the ship and took to the
liferafts, where they drifted for three to four hours, until
they were picked up by the Norwegian ship MS Nordnorge.
Coincidentally, earlier in 2007, the M.S. Nordnorge was
involved in another Antarctic rescue when it evacuated 294
passengers from a sister ship, the M.S. Nordkapp, when the
Nordkapp ran aground on Deception Island, a part of these
same remote South Shetland Islands archipelago.
Some of those rescued by the Nordnorge were taken to the
Chilean Eduardo Frei Montalva Station on King George Island,
from which they were subsequently airlifted by C-130
Hercules transport aircraft of the Chilean Air Force which
departed from Punta Arenas, Chile. Approximately 70 of the
survivors were taken to Uruguay's Artigas Base. The Explorer
sank within a matter of hours of apparently striking the
ice.
| Name: |
1969–1985: MS Lindblad
Explorer
1985–1992: MS Society Explorer
1992–2007: MS Explorer |
| Owner: |
1969-1972: K/S A/S
Explorer & Co, Oslo, Norway
1972-1980: AB Svenska Amerika Linjen, Gothenburg,
Sweden
1980-1982: Lindblad Swire Cruises, Panama
1982-1983: Salén AB, Stockholm, Sweden
1983-1985: Ferry Services Curacao NV, Willemstad,
Netherlands Antilles
1985-1992: Discoverer Reederei GmbH, Germany
1992-2003: Explorer Shipping, Monrovia, Liberia
2003-2004: Kyris Shipping Ltd., Monaco
2004-2007: G.A.P Adventures, Toronto, Canada |
| Builder: |
Nystads Varv Shipyard (Uudenkaupungin
Telakka), Uusikaupunki, Finland |
| Laid down: |
1969 |
| Launched: |
December 14, 1969 |
| Out of service: |
November 23, 2007, sank |
| Homeport: |
1969–1972: Oslo, Norway
1972–1989: Panama City, Panama
1989–2007: Monrovia, Liberia |
| Fate: |
Sank, November 23, 2007,
at (62°24′S,
57°16′W) |
| Notes: |
IMO Number 6924959 |
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