The Naval Architect February 2008

In-depth| Safety
Learning first hand from Explorer
The expedition cruiseship Explorer sank in Antarctica on 23 November
2007. Andy White, a Fellow of RINA, was a passenger aboard the vessel
and attempts to use first hand experience to draw some conclusions about
the incident.
I
t is said that ‘an adventure is a disaster Shackleton’. Aboard were 91 passengers, 54
that did not quite happen’, and for a crew, and nine expedition staff (154 persons
time during the incident that claimed in total).
Explorer I felt that the line between adventure On 22 November, the vessel entered
and disaster was stretched paper thin. the Bransfield Strait which separates the
As a naval architect, I felt a duty to consider South Shetland Islands from the Antarctic
my first hand experience of the sinking, Penisular. At around 10.30 that evening
and draw some conclusions. The flag state the ship attempted to transit an area which
Liberia is conducting an investigation which Explorer, listing before sinking on 23 was a mixture of densely packed drift ice
will hopefully be available mid-2008, and I November 2007, after she hit ice in antarctic intermingled with icebergs of differing sizes.
will restrict my report to areas that I had first waters, 880km southeast of Ushuaia, the Wind was relatively light, air temperature
hand experience of, namely the evacuation, southernmost city in argentina. around freezing, and water temperature
time in the lifeboat, and subsequent rescue. the same. Survival time if one entered the
Any opinions that I may draw are mine water without an immersion suit would be
alone. less than one hour with the possibility of
Antarctica experiences the worst weather many passengers dying of cold shock within
on Earth. The Admiralty Antarctic Pilot minutes.
summarises the difficulties for ships
operating in the area. alarm raised
• The presence of sea ice The general alarm sounded at around 11.30.
• Sudden, violent, and unpredictable We had been kept awake by the impacts
changes in the weather caused by the ship moving through the ice
• An unusually high proportion of Lifeboats carry survivors of the Explorer and we got dressed and moved quickly to the
dangerous shoals which rise precipitously sinking (Chilean Navy photo). Muster station.
from deepwater Having sailed all my life, attended sea
survival courses, and operated hovercraft
• Large seas and swells close to the Artic circle, I well understood the
Technical parTiculars • Instability of the compass in very high problems of hypothermia. I had suggested to
Explorer latitudes my partner early on in the trip that we lay out
Explorer was commissioned by Lars-eric Lindblad, the • Inadequate charts all our warm weather gear each night in case
Swedish-american pioneer of exotic expedition tours, • Absence of aids to navigation we were woken up by the general alarm. So
and built in 1969 at Nystads Varv shipyard in Uusikau- • Whiteout conditions we were dressed warmly. I am not sure from
punki, finland. • Kelp looking around me at the Muster station that
Tonnage: ............................................2398gt • Obscuration of salient points and other passengers were as clearly informed as
Length: ...............................................72.88m landmarks by icebergs regards to the need to dress warmly.
Beam: .................................................14.08m • Loss of echo sounding trace in drift ice At one point, some passengers (us
Draught: ...............................................4.48m included) were allowed to leave the Muster
Ice class: ...............................................ice-a Explorer was one of the first to carry fare station to go down to our cabins and pack
Propulsion: ............2 x MAK Diesel M452 AK paying passengers to Antarctica and started suitcases. As we entered our cabin, the lights
each 1300kW driving a trend which has seen numbers of tourists failed and without prompting, we left our
a single variable-pitch visiting Antarctica nearly quadruple since suitcases and returned to the Muster station.
propeller, 4 blades 1997. In 2006 approximately 30,000 tourists To my knowledge, no further roll call was
Speed: ...........................12.5knots (23km/h) visited the continent. taken to ensure anyone was still away from
Capacity: ............................104 passengers The vessel departed from Ushuaia, the Muster station.
Crew:.......................................................... 54 Argentina on 11 November 2007 on a At such moments of stress, the natural
19-day cruise whose theme was ‘Spirit of ‘fight or flee’ reaction leads to the need for
16 The Naval Architect February 2008
NA Feb 08 - p16+17+18.indd 16 05/02/2008 09:32:57
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