British Naval Vessel Rescues Antarctic Cruise Ship

by Kraig Becker on

A ship in the British navy came to the aid of a stranded cruise ship in the Antarctic last week, helping to clear a path through the ice that had entrapped the civilian vessel. While no one was injured and the entire operation took just a few hours to complete, the incident underscores the challenges of traveling in the Southern Ocean, even in the 21st century.

The ice-breaking vessel HMS Protector was on a regular patrol route off the coast of Antarctica, with the Norwegian cruise liner Fram following close behind. The cruise ship had hoped to safely follow the Protector through the icy waters that were dense with ice floes at the time. But before the boat could navigate out of the perilous region, the large chunks of ice moved in, completely encircling the vessel and preventing it from moving forward or backward.

A quick call to the Protector alerted the first ship of the situation, bringing it quickly around to render aid. It took the icebreaker two hours to crack through the 13-foot-thick ice that had encircled the cruise liner, before it was free to continue its voyage.

The passengers aboard the Fram were fortunate that the Protector was so close at hand or they could have been held in place for much longer. Considering the size of the Southern Ocean and the relatively few vessels in those waters, it could have been hours or even days before another ship could have come to assist. Similarly, had the Protector not been an icebreaker it wouldn’t have been able to lend a hand either.

The Norwegian cruise liner was never in any real danger, but ships running into problems off of Antarctica are a fairly common affair. Back in 2007, the cruise ship MV Explorer sank off the coast of the frozen continent and in 2010 another ship ran into trouble when it lost an engine while crossing the perilous Drake Passage. In 2011, a third ship ran aground on rocks near the Antarctic Peninsula, breaching its hull in the process. In each case, all passengers were evacuated safely from these vessels but some travel experts believe that it is only a matter of time before a tragic accident occurs.

Updated: More Info on this incident
After writing this story I heard from Steve Wellmeier, the Administrative Director of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) who filled in a lot more information of what was happening when the Fram became stuck in the ice.

In seems the cruise ship was hoping to make a regularly scheduled stop at Brown Bluff, their scheduled destination for the day, but due to high concentrations of ice in the area, it didn’t seem likely that they would reach that point. The Protector was already heading to the same location and invited the Fram to follow along. The two ships then proceeded to Brown Bluff as scheduled, with passengers from both vessels going ashore.

Later, as both ships were making their way back to open water, the Protector once again took the lead and proceeded ahead. At one point they reached an area of pack ice that was thicker than what they had encountered previously, so the Fram stopped to let the icebreaker do her job. While the Protector nosed ahead, the dense ice moved in quickly around the cruise liner, preventing her from moving forward and trapping her in place.

Realizing what had happened, the Protector then came around and cleared the ice quickly and efficiently from the path of the Fram, freeing her to continue her voyage. We’re told that this was not a rescue per se, but rather a routine assistance of one ship to another, without danger to either vessel or anyone aboard.

It is good to get the full story directly from a source that knows the logistics of what was happening in the Antarctic. The IAATO, and its members, work hard to ensure that travel in that part of the world is safe for both passengers and the environment. Their efforts make it possible for those of us who want to go to Antarctica to actually do so.

[Photo Credit: Royal Navy]

80-Year-Old Sets Sights On Everest Summit

by Kraig Becker on

Eighty-year-old Japanese skier and mountaineer Yuichiro Miura has announced his intentions to attempt a summit of Mt. Everest this spring, returning to a mountain that made him famous back in 1970. If successful, Miura would become the oldest person to ever climb the mountain and the first octogenarian to do so.

This won’t be Miura’s first visit to the world’s tallest mountain. He first climbed it back in 1970, stopping short of the summit because he had another goal in mind. As an accomplished high alpine skier, Miura had traveled to the Himalayan peak in an attempt to become the first person to ski down its slopes – something that had previously been unthinkable. But the Japanese man, who was 37 at the time, achieved his goal and inspired the Oscar-winning documentary “The Man Who Skied Down Everest.”

After completing his quest to ski the Seven Summits – the tallest peaks on each of the seven continents – in 1985, Miura then chose to lead a quieter life for some time. But as he grew older, the Himalaya called to him once more and in 2003 he declared that he would return to Everest, this time to climb all the way to the summit. He was 70 years old at the time and when he was successful in his attempt, he became the oldest person to accomplish that feat. He would return five years later to scale the mountain again at the age of 75 and staying on his five-year schedule he is returning this year as well.

At the summit of the 29,029-foot mountain, the air is so thin that it’s roughly one-third of what you find at sea level. That’s enough to make climbers half Miura’s age gasp for air while their legs scream out in exhaustion. The 80-year-old says that he’ll need to regain the strength and energy of a much younger man if he hopes to be successful. He describes his quest for a third summit of the mountain as the “best anti-aging” activity that he knows.

The spring climbing season on Everest begins in early April and will run into June. We’ll know then if it is possible for a man who has passed his 80th birthday to climb such a daunting peak.

[Photo Credit: KYODO]

Massive New Penguin Colony Discovered In Antarctica

by Kraig Becker on

In December, a massive new colony of emperor penguins was discovered in Antarctica when humans visited a remote location on the eastern coast of the continent for the very first time. Scientists estimate that the colony is home to more than 9000 individual birds, which is forcing them to reconsider their previous estimates of overall population numbers found elsewhere in the Antarctic.

According to Discovery News, evidence of the colony’s existence was first spotted via satellite back in 2009 but no one had been able to visit the location to confirm that the birds were actually there. However, in early December of last year, three staff members from Belgium‘s Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station made the 30-mile trek out to the site to take a look for themselves. What they found was nothing short of remarkable.

The trio first had to navigate through a maze of crevasses just to reach the coastline and when they did make their way down to the water, they discovered more penguins than they had ever thought possible. According to their report, there were five distinct groups of emperors with each group numbering in excess of a thousand birds. Perhaps more importantly, they estimated that about 75% of them were young chicks.

Locating this large colony is seen as a good sign for the overall health of penguins in the Antarctic. Previously, scientists had believed that their numbers could be in decline due to shrinking pack ice in and around the continent. Due to global climate change, the birds still face significant challenges in the future, but for not it seems they are in better health than was first suspected.

[Photo Credit: International Polar Foundation]

Rafter Mysteriously Goes Missing In Grand Canyon

by Kraig Becker on

The National Park Service has a mystery on their hands and it is proving to be a difficult one to solve.

Twenty-one-year-old Kaitlin Kenney was part of a month-long private rafting party in the Grand Canyon when she mysteriously went missing last week. Kenney was last seen on Friday, January 11, in a camp near Tapeats Creek along the northern bank of the Colorado River. What happened to her after that is still open for speculation, as no trace of the young woman has been found since.

Other members of the rafting group used a satellite phone to contact the Park Service over the weekend and the NPS scrambled search parties to go looking for Kenney. Searching from both the air and on the ground, teams have combed the area where she was last seen and so far have come up empty. The Park Service says that they spent two days checking every accessible trail, beach, drainage and backcountry area in the vicinity to no avail. The search is ongoing, although efforts have been scaled back.

What might have happened to the missing rafter is open to debate. Other members of her party say that she would never have tried to climb out of the canyon on her own and speculation is that she may have accidentally fallen into the water sometime in the night. At this time of year the Grand Canyon can be a cold place and the waters of the Colorado are frigid, making hypothermia a real danger. SAR teams have combed the river looking for Kenney, however, and still haven’t found any clues.

[Photo Credit: National Park Service]