With growing allure of Antarctic comes cautionary tales

Everyone on board was rescued when the Ocean Nova, here near the San Martin base, ran aground in  Antarctica in February during high winds.  (Associated Press)

In February, on its next-to-last day of a 15-day Antarctic tour, the Ocean Nova, carrying 65 passengers and a crew of 41, ran aground in Antarctica and became stalled. Damage was minor (some flaking paint and dents to the hull), and all passengers on the cruise, run by Connecticut-based Quark Expeditions, were safely transferred to another ship. But the incident, the fourth maritime accident in three years involving excursion vessels in Antarctica, has raised concerns about the dangers of fast-growing tourism in the region.

The great majority of the voyages operate in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts north toward South America, from mid-October to early April.

The number of visitors is expected to be down slightly for the 2008-09 season, but tour operators say numbers are holding up well considering the recession and the cost of Antarctic trips, typically about $10,000 a person. Like Mount Everest, tour operators say, Antarctica has become a destination with cachet, favored by adventurous travelers seeking bragging rights.

“Antarctica does seem to be in its Everest moment, with the concern about global warming spurring interest in all things ice,” said Barbara Banks, director of marketing for Wilderness Travel, based in Berkeley, which offers tours to the region from $8,995 a person. “The allure of Antarctica is also that one can experience an otherworldly realm, similar to the high mountain realm of Everest or the most remote regions of the Sahara, but with relatively little physical effort other than being prepared for seasickness and bad weather. The ship does the hard work for you.”

But going to Antarctica isn't exactly like taking a cruise to the Mediterranean. “It's very different when you're operating in such a remote part of the world,” said Jim Taylor, co-owner of Polar Cruises, based in Bend, Ore., which has been specializing in small-ship travel to Antarctica and the Arctic since 1996. Even the most experienced outfitters still have to contend with Antarctica's severe weather conditions, ice-covered waters and remoteness from rescue centers. “It truly is adventure travel,” Taylor said.

In December, the Argentine cruise ship Ushuaia ran aground on rocks off the coast of Antarctica. In November 2007, the Explorer, owned by GAP Adventures of Toronto, struck an iceberg and became the first commercial passenger ship to sink there.

Two other passenger vessels ran aground in Antarctica in recent years, the Nordkapp, owned by Hurtigruten, a Norwegian cruise line, and Quark's Lyubov Orlova. In each case, contingency plans worked and passengers were safe, but the accidents raise concerns about both the environmental risks and the safety of those passengers.

“This is a concern of ours,” Taylor said. “You have a 3,000-passenger ship that goes to Antarctica, hits a rock, and so the closest ship of any size that could possibly rescue these people is many days away.” With smaller ships, a rescue would be easier. “With under a couple hundred passengers,” he said, “there's enough of them circling around there all the time that can help each other out.”

Large ships take careful precautions “to stay well clear of uncharted waters and are very cognizant of ice around the ship,” said Steve Wellmeier, executive director of the Antarctica tour operators organization, which mandates that members like Holland America Line and Princess Cruises, with ships that carry more than 500 passengers to Antarctica, do not let passengers debark there.

“As the safety and security of our passengers is our paramount priority, we would not operate in any way to jeopardize this,” Karen Candy, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, said. She said some of the precautions taken by Princess included cruising in a “relatively ice-free, limited area of the peninsula” and using an experienced captain and an ice pilot, a specialist in navigating icy waters.

After the grounding of the Ocean Nova, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, an environmental group, called for stronger controls over tourism vessels in the Antarctic, including limits on the size of ships, the number of passengers per ship and the amount of fuel on board, as well as standards for hull strength and stringent qualifications for ice navigators.

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators has drawn up its own standards. It requires an outfitter seeking membership to take along an observer on a trip to ensure they are in compliance with the regulations. Those guidelines have also been adopted by the Antarctic Treaty system, a series of agreements among 47 countries that operate bases in Antarctica. But enforcement can be tricky.

Seven nations claim to control portions of Antarctica, though those claims are not recognized under international law. And the region's location makes it difficult to police.

“Because of its remote location, it's not possible to have a lot of enforcement of anything in Antarctica,” said Ashton Palmer, president of Expedition Trips, based in Seattle, which specializes in selling small-ship cruises. “There is no one down there making sure companies are operating in the right way.”

Travelers who want to make sure they are booking with a reputable company when planning a trip to Antarctica should look for tours on vessels with ice-strengthened hulls (reinforced against contact with ice) and an experienced ice captain, who commands the ship through polar waters.

The Antarctica's remoteness also creates problems when passengers unexpectedly need medical care, and a growing number of tour operators, including Abercrombie & Kent and Polar Cruises, require that their passengers buy emergency-evacuation insurance. Because the cost of dealing with an onboard medical emergency like a broken leg can be upward of $25,000, buying the additional coverage is a good idea even if it's not required.