The report also praised the captain for his decision to evacuate the passengers to lifeboats early in the incident, before the crippled ship drifted back into the ice field, where lifeboats would have been difficult or impossible to deploy. All on board made it into lifeboats and were rescued by a passing Norwegian cruise ship. He denied that the church had ever been consulted over "death flights.". Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Twelve years ago, the world's most renowned polar cruise ship, the MS Explorer, set out from a deep-water port in Argentina toward the icy, treacherous waters of Antarctica. Read More. Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in. "But the corpses began to wash ashore, so they decided to start dumping them in the open ocean. "The crew tried to push away with the oars, and when that failed they attached a metal object to the end of the oars. It was revealed The Explorer encountered an ice field and received a gaping ten-foot-long slice through her hull. "The lifeboats were packed nearly to capacity and because they were open, it felt like you were in a big rowboat. But still we continued. The report blames the lack of Antarctic experience of the Swedish captain, Bengt Wiman. The MV Explorer was the subject of a recent Smithsonian Channel doc - will be replayed over the next few weeks. This was Wimans first time in the big chair, and the blame is placed squarely on his shoulders for misreading the ice. The report recommends "administrative action" be taken against Captain Wiman "in view of his lack of knowledge which contributed to the cause of the casualty". The vessel sank the following November while traversing sea ice off Antarctica. Omslag till Life magazine #15, 1948 och Classics Illustrated #78 (1955). Some crew's failure to don survival suits and start lifeboat engines might have endangered the lives of passengers if the sea conditions had been more severe, it warns. Adventures, Bruce Poon Tip, expresses dissatisfaction with the investigation. Google and Facebook have nearly destroyed the media business - venerable institutions and digital upstarts alike. In recent years, Princess Cruise Lines has sent its 109,000-ton megaships Golden Princess and Star Princess to the Antarctic, even though neither is ice-reinforced. Life/Gilberton. The chief engineer was commended for jury-rigging a fuel supply for an auxiliary generator, which allowed the captain to maneuver the ship into a position where the lifeboats could be deployed. They spent most of that first night huddled in lifeboats before being picked up by a Norwegian passenger boat and taken to Chiles Eduardo Frei air base in Antarctica. The ship, which offered two-week cruises around Antarctica at a cost of some $8,000 (4,000 pounds) per cabin, sank hours after the passengers and crew were evacuated. The master of Explorer was very experienced in Baltic waters, but he was unfamiliar with the type of ice he encountered in Antarctic waters. This is broadly consistent with the direction of the prevailing current.[11]. [23] A scale model of Explorer is on display at Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. The first notable incident of the Explorer was when it ran aground near La Plaza Point, Antarctica, on 11 February 1972; her passengers, Lindblad among them, were rescued by the Chilean Navy. It describes how the ship was fatally holed by ice and began to flood rapidly as it attempted to sail through an ice field at night. ", Steve Wellmeier, executive director of the International Association of Antarctic Tourism Operators describes the report as "very sobering reading" which "represents a wake-up call for all of our members. Werner moved between acting and "real jobs" for many years before committing to the craft full time. Minutes later, at around midnight, an alarm sounded, and the Explorer's captain, Bengt Wiman, made a shrill announcement over the intercom: "This is not a drill. That was the Antarctic cruise ship that rapidly sunk off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula back in November of 2007(Inexperienced Captain). Survivors were flown to Punta Arenas in two groups. "There were men and women, and I had no idea who they were or what they had done. Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest news, gear reviews, travel tips, and all things adventure!. Explorer was designed, like most ships, with compartments which could be sealed off by watertight doors. O'Hara traveled to the . Neither the ship owner nor Captain Wiman was available for comment yesterday. Former Beflhavare at Expidition Vessels. Captain Wiman said the VDR was forgotten as the crew concentrated on evacuating passengers. The second had to spend another night at the base before being flown back to Chile on Sunday. "I reached over to try to comfort him, and I slipped and nearly fell through the door," Mr. Scilingo said. Currently, the International Maritime Organization doesn't have formal competency training requirements for ice navigators. It places blame on the captain having misjudged ice conditions and the failure of one of the ships' watertight doors. He attended the University of Illinois and the Medical School of that University, and holds the degree of Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Medicine. [2][7], Explorer was abandoned in the early hours of 23 November 2007 after taking on water near the South Shetland Islands in the Southern Ocean, an area which is usually stormy but was calm at the time. Available for both RF and RM licensing. "But that is not our issue because Scilingo's statements are his own responsibility; they are his problem.". Pl's Opp'n 2. New limits are set on tourists and cruise ships to the region. The captain is criticised for evacuating the ship without taking the vital VDR "white box" accident recorder, which could have given investigators clues to why vital watertight compartments were left open while others leaked. Californian encountered a large ice field at 22:20 ship's time, and Captain Lord decided to stop the ship and wait. The report which vividly illustrated how a single misjudgment can lead to disaster in the harsh, poorly charted waters of Antarctica made a series of recommendations to improve safety on polar cruises. 19802023 The Christian Science Monitor. A South Carolina woman accused of driving her into a lake with her two young sons strapped in their car seats could be out of prison by 2024. [8] Explorer was confirmed by the Chilean Navy to have sunk at an approximate position of 6224S 5716W / 62.400S 57.267W / -62.400; -57.267, between the South Shetlands and Grahams Land in the Bransfield Strait;[9] where the depth is roughly 600m.[10] The Royal Navy Antarctic Patrol Ship Endurance, whilst carrying out a hydrographic survey for the British Antarctic Survey and at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, later pinpointed Explorer's final resting place as 622417.57S 571146.49W / 62.4048806S 57.1962472W / -62.4048806; -57.1962472, at an approximate depth of 1,130m a distance of 4,373m from her reported sinking position. Subscribe to Luxe Beat. This is the last of them. Examined multiple perspectives. Her original Finnish-Swedish ice class was 1C, which is relatively weak. "I'm talking because I feel like the navy has abandoned us, left us to the wolves, the very ones who were loyal and followed orders. [1] The report cites the decision by Captain Bengt Wiman,[34] age 49, to enter the ice field based on his knowledge and information available at the time as the primary reason why Explorer was so severely damaged. "In all likelihood, he either would have taken action to avoid the hard ice, or manoeuvred the Explorer with greater attention to the vessel's speed," the report concludes. The rest of the group, mostly crew and younger passengers from the Canadian-owned vessel, plodded after him in borrowed clothes, haggard and offering no comment. Adventures Inc., Defendant: Represented by Freehill, Hogan & Mahar, LLP. His first love was always acting and he pursued acting after graduating with a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Toronto. Power failed, and, at about 3 a.m., Captain Bengt Wiman gave the order to abandon ship. Georgie Hale, a passenger from Coventry, said that pandemonium ensued: "It was absolute chaos at that point. Jon Bowermaster has posted a story on his blog with all the information. Disney. Posted by Lillian Africano | Adventure, Antarctica, Editor's Picks, Featured, Travel |. All rights reserved. Mr. Poon Tip says that Liberia's investigators had "come to these outrageous conclusions" without ever speaking with anyone in his company. With Michael Pongracz, Werner Artinger, Chris Welsh, Christopher Power. I recommend that the Motion to Dismiss be DENIED. A Chilean naval icebreaker that reached the scene shortly after the Explorer's passengers were rescued, concluded that the ship had not been traveling through a thin ice field, as her captain had thought, but rather an older, thicker field containing a mix of dangerous glacial ice chunks, some reportedly as large as 15 feet high with underwater rams as long as 45 feet. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Menem, a former dissident who was imprisoned for five years by the military, defended his decision to issue the pardons, saying it was necessary for the country to move forward and to stop the military discontent that led to three barracks uprisings in the 1980's and in 1990. you are agreeing to our, One month free trial to theMonitorDaily, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor, Questions swirl around the sinking of the MS Explorer. [13] The vessel was originally named Lindblad Explorer, after Lars-Eric Lindblad, and was the first custom-built expeditionary cruise ship. Antarctica is emerging as one of the cruise industry's hottest destinations. "The military first threw our children into the river alive, their feet trapped inside a bucket of cement," said Hebe de Bonafini, director of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. It had been on an 18-day round trip voyage from Ushuaia, Argentina, to tour areas in the Antarctic. Has there been another shipwreck like titanic As a result, the Explorer rammed into that ice at too high of a speed, ripping a ten foot long gash in its hull, which explains why the ship sunk so quickly. But the chance of an iceberg taking a ship down is growing just as fast. [28] By 07:30 UTC all 91 passengers, 9 guides and 54 crew,[a] from over 14 countries,[b] had taken to the Explorer's lifeboats. He said he was so tormented by the memory of his two death flights that he could not sleep at night without taking sleeping pills or drinking heavily. Posted by Lillian Africano | Adventure, Antarctica, Editor's Picks, Featured, Travel | After a lifetime of travel that had taken me all the continents of the world, there are a few. People familiar with the Antarctic tourism industry weren't surprised that a cruise ship sank there. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. "There was great surprise at the realities revealed by the report compared to the information that had been available before from G.A.P., Chile, or Argentina," Mr. Barnes says. Munster Ireland Climate Politics Court & Crime Spotlight World History Hub Longreads. news . https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/s005669/3467456. He is also criticised for evacuating the ship without taking its white box accident recorder. 4 February 1900-26 December 1985, 10! Jack Goodhue reminds readers of the value experience brings in the workplace. Hector Cesari, a spokesman for the navy, said no interviews would be given about Mr. Scilingo because he was no longer associated with the military after being stripped of his rank. Argentine Tells of Dumping 'Dirty War' Captives Into Sea, https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/13/world/argentine-tells-of-dumping-dirty-war-captives-into-sea.html. Join Facebook to connect with Bengt Wiman and others you may know. The hull was reportedly corroding in spots, and had already been patched a number of times, and there were a few failed inspections on its record as well. He is also criticised for evacuating the ship without taking its "white box" accident recorder. Dressed in an olive Christian Dior suit, red pin-striped shirt and paisley tie, he looks like the businessman he has become, exporting products like apple cider and leather bikinis to Brazil. "[24], Some passengers on Explorer reported a loud "bang" at the time of impact, although others reported that there had been no noticeable impact, or at least nothing more than the normal crunching of ice experienced when sailing through icy waters. Consider this example. The biography mostly diary entries of a decorated merchant marine captain. Delegates to the Antarctica Treaty meeting approved a resolution that bans vessels carrying more than 500 passengers from conducting landings in Antarctica. 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