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Friday, 4 January, 2002, 17:34 GMT Concern over Antarctic cruise
ships View (BBC) The number of tourists visiting Antarctica has
trebled By Christine McGourty, BBC science correspondent, in
Antarctica  Britain is leading an effort to introduce a new
"Antarctic Code" for shipping in the Southern Ocean.  It aims to
reduce the likelihood of a potentially devastating accident as a
result of the increasing number of ships sailing around
Antarctica.  Tourists now substantially out-number scientists
and support staff on the continent  Scott Altman, Antarctica
Project Tourism is flourishing on the continent and the trend is
towards the use of larger cruise ships.  These are not
specifically designed to sail in polar conditions and are more
difficult to manoeuvre in ice than smaller ships.  There is also
concern about the impact of the increasing number of visitors -
more than 1,000 on the larger