Ironically, it was the first custom-built Antarctic cruise ship, and the first cruise ship to visit the Antarctic. It was also the first cruise ship to navigate the northwest passage without help of an icebreaker.
Posted on 11/30/2007 3:50:57 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SANTIAGO, Chile – About 2,500 penguins en route to their Antarctic mating grounds could be sickened by a diesel fuel spill from a cruise boat that struck an iceberg and sank last week, Chilean scientists said Friday.
Areas surrounding the mile-long spill site include breeding grounds for Antarctic and Adelia penguins, and the largest mating colony for Papua penguins, said Maria Jose Rosello, a Chilean marine biologist.
“The danger is that this fuel spill will impede the journey that species like Papua penguins make at this time of year,” Rosello said.
Veronica Vallejos, director of the scientific department at the Chilean Antarctic Institute, said the spill could also affect other Antarctic fauna, including sea lions, seals and sea birds as well as fish, krill, algae and plankton colonies – key elements of the Antarctic food chain.
“There's always environmental danger when fuel leaks, and even more so in a zone with high biodiversity,” Vallegos said.
The MS Explorer, an adventure travel ship on a 19-day cruise off Antarctica, hit an iceberg on Nov. 23, forcing its 154 passengers and crew into lifeboats in the middle of the night. They waited more than three hours in icy waters until they were rescued by a Norwegian cruise ship.
About 50,000 gallons of diesel, 6,300 gallons of lubricant and 260 gallons of gasoline were on board when the Explorer then sank hours later.
Chile's navy said Thursday that bad weather has kept clean-up crews from containing the spill, which is for now penned in by large chunks of floating ice in the Bransfield Strait, about 50 miles east of King George Island.
“The diesel oil continues flowing” from the ship, which now rests 4,800 feet below the sea, Vallegos told Cooperativa radio.
Vallegos and other Chilean experts who toured the spill site reported seeing no contaminated birds this week, but noted they hadn't been able to fully assess the damage the diesel might have done.
Studies by scientists who regularly conduct research in Antarctica at this time of year will be key to establishing the extent of the damage, she said.
Diesel is the least harmful type of hydrocarbon product, scientists told a news conference Thursday.
All the more ironic, since it was an eco-whako Global Warming Cruise!....................
With the name “MS Explorer” this ship was bound to crash.
Now THAT is leaving a “carbon footprint”!
Figure current market retail, that is roughly $215,000 USD.
And the eco-whackos won't let us use it here!................
Must have not gotten the latest security update.....
Yep, Microsoft can screw up anything. Probably a very blue screen of death. On second thought make that a black screen of death.
Maybe they should have named it FireFox and everything would have worked normally...................
That version of Explorer is on extended support and they no longer make the patches available in order to try to force you to the new version.
“Our ship was purpose-built for rugged and safe expedition voyages. At just under 250 feet, she has a particularly shallow draft and an ice rated double hull which enables her to forge into marine territories that elude other more cumbersome ships. Her go-anywhere size also makes her intimate”
http://www.smallgrouptours.net/MS_Explorer.html
Safari’s a nice name for a ship. Opera would be strange. I’m not sure what the implications of naming a ship “FireFox” are. Maybe that there will be a lot of free plug ins that are neat but will also slow the ship down?
Hey, but they meant well and that is what counts!
can’t get much more “intimate” than a double hull.. I had heard early on that a fist-sized hole was punctured somehow..
Ironically, it was the first custom-built Antarctic cruise ship, and the first cruise ship to visit the Antarctic. It was also the first cruise ship to navigate the northwest passage without help of an icebreaker.
Bu, Bu But..the penguins COULD be sickened!!
Al Gore Buddy Owner Of Sunken Ship That Left Huge Carbon Footprint On Antarctic Ocean Floor
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/780
50,000 gallons of ships fuel will be undetectable in the ocean fairly soon.
Blue Screen of Death.
BwaHaHahahahahahahahahah.
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