Sinking
Explorer departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on 11 November 2007 on a 19-day cruise called Spirit of Shackleton run by Gap Adventures, intended to trace the route of the 20th-century explorer Ernest Shackleton through the Drake Passage (an area typically stormy with rough seas). After visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, she hit an iceberg on 23 November 2007 in the Bransfield Strait, close to King George Island in the Southern Ocean and near the South Shetland Islands. The iceberg struck by Explorer made a gash in the hull which allowed water to enter.
The Argentine Navy later said in a statement that it had observed "significant" damage.[4] The official report of the sinking noted: "The damage sustained had to have extended along the length of the vessel from Cabins 308 to 314 for at least a distance of 3.6 meters, and, in all likelihood, had punctured and sliced holes along the shell plating."[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. One passenger reported sea water in their cabin at about 03:00 UTC.[25][26] Some reports also indicated that the ship had drifted into an iceberg on Explorer starboard side while the crew was assessing damage caused by the original impact, also to the starboard side of the ship.[27]
A mayday call was put out by the ship at 04:24 UTC, and rescue operations were quickly coordinated by the DPA Peter Burman in Sweden who made contact with the Prefectura Naval Argentina (the Argentinian equivalent of a coastguard) and the Chilean Navy Center for Search and Rescue. Chile dispatched the icebreaker CHILEAN ICEBREAKER Almirante Óscar Viel as well as nearby commercial ships, including the MN Ushuaia, the National Geographic Endeavour, and the Norwegian Coastal Express ship MS Nordnorge (1996) which was operating as a passenger cruise ship at the time.[28] By 07:30 UTC all 91 passengers, nine guides and 54 crew, from over 14 countries, had taken to the Explorer lifeboats.[29] They drifted for five hours until they were picked up by the Norwegian ship MS Nordnorge, which arrived on scene at approximately 10:00 UTC.[19][30]
All of those rescued by Nordnorge were taken to the Chilean Frei Montalva Station on King George Island, from where they were subsequently airlifted by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft of the Chilean Air Force to Punta Arenas, Chile,[19] in two separate flights; one on Saturday 24 November and the other on Sunday 25 November. Those passengers not taken to Punta Arenas (an estimated 70) were taken to Uruguay's Artigas Base. Explorer sank at 19:00 UTC, approximately 20 hours after the initial impact and damage to her hull.[31] Her wreck lies at -62.405°N, -57.19611°W.
Explorer was designed, like most ships, with compartments which could be sealed off by watertight doors. The ship would not sink if holed and one compartment flooded, but was not safe if more compartments were flooded, either by a gash spanning compartments or imperfect sealing between compartments. Gap Adventures reported that there was a crack in addition to the hole, but it is not clear if it spanned compartments.[32]
In an article published on 8 December 2007, Jim Barnes, the executive director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition said that Explorer was "perfect for ice navigation", and stated that the explanation of the sinking "doesn't add up" and that "essential pieces of the story are missing". Sander Calisal, professor emeritus of naval architecture at the University of British Columbia, added that Explorer 's ice-reinforced hull ought to have withstood accidental contact with submerged ice.[33]
