Antarctic ship hits iceberg

MORE than 150 passengers and crew took to lifeboats after their cruise ship slammed....

  MORE than 150 passengers and crew took to lifeboats after their cruise ship slammed into an iceberg and sank off Antarctica in a Titanic-style accident.At least 10 Australians were on the ship, the Explorer, which went down in the icy seas near the South Shetland Islands yesterday. All 154 people on board were eventually rescued by another vessel and taken to nearby military bases. Crew member Andrea Salas, 38, told Argentina's radio Continental: "There was wind, and it was very cold, and we were wet because of the waves." She said the passengers and crew spent three to four hours on lifeboats before they were rescued by a Norwegian cruise ship Nordnorge. Captain Arnvid Hansen told AFP by phone: "They are in good condition. There is no hypothermia, they all have food and clothes. Everything is ok." An attempt later to ferry the cruise passengers in small boats from the Nordnorge to King George Island, in South Shetland, had to be called off because of strong winds. Chilean navy and air force personnel then ferried 84 people to Chile's Frei military base, and the remaining 70 to Uruguay's Artigas military bases, both in Antartica, for an overnight stay, a military spokesman told reporters today. Canadian company GAP Adventures that ran the ill-fated cruise said it was making arrangements to fly all 91 passengers to their respective home countries. "Their families have been contacted and they have been able to contact their families. They're all in good spirits," said GAP Adventures spokeswoman Marie-Anne MacRae. "We're going to work out arrangements for flying them back home ... most likely from Buenos Aires," she added. The captain of the Explorer and another senior officer stayed on board the 2,400-tonne Liberian-registered Explorer until it became clear it would sink. A Chilean icebreaker in the area said the Explorer sank at 1830 GMT (0530 AEDT) in the Drake Passage, between Antarctica and the southern tip of South America, adding that it was cleaning up a 180-metre-long oil slick left by the ship. "I was in the bar after midnight, having a drink with my colleagues and some passengers, when I saw people come up from the lower cabins, wet and shouting 'there's water'," said Salas. "The ship encountered ice and the result was a hole about the size of a fist, and a crack through which water began leaking in," said Susan Hayes, GAP's vice-president of marketing. She said the night-time evacuation onto lifeboats went smoothly."They actually had several hours while the pumps were pumping the water from the bilge." "All passengers onboard received evacuation training the first day they arrived on the ship," the company said in a statement. "This training was put into place as passengers were assembled in the lecture hall and informed of the situation. With everyone well-dressed and prepared, the passengers of the M/S Explorer were safely taken off the ship in lifeboats." The National Geographic Endeavor ship also helped in the rescue effort, officials said. The collision occurred shortly after midnight near the island of San Carlos, according to the Chilean navy. The Lloyds List maritime publication said the Explorer had five "deficiencies" at its last inspection including problems with a watertight door. The ship, which was built in 1969, also had lifeboat maintenance problems and missing search and rescue plans, according to a report on Lloyds' website. Watertight doors were described as "not as required", and the fire safety measures were also criticised, it said, citing an inspection done by Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency in May this year. Chilean port inspectors also found six deficiencies during an inspection in Puerto Natales in March, including two related to navigation matters, it said.