Tough Times for Expedition Cruise Operators

I just recently discovered www.cybercruises.com and they seem to have reported quite consistently on the cruise market, covering also expedition cruise products and operators. Just now they have summed up the recent developments for a number of exp cruise companies, and unfortunately it is mostly bad news:

We have seen plenty of offers from the main cruise lines to attract business. But the small ship and expedition business seems to have been having an even worse time of heading into this recession. Recently, we have seen $2,000 air credits, free flights to Antarctica, 40% reductions and two for one offers from several small ship or expedition companies.

The article goes on to mention that Quark Expeditions has cancelled the entire Arctic season for its iconic "flag ship" the conventional icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov. Also, there was a cancellation of the final 2009 Arctic voyage on the ice-strenghtened vessel Akademik Sergey Vavilov as well as the first departure from Murmansk to the North Pole on the nuclear icebreaker 50 Years of Victory.

Quark Expeditions has been operating the 112-berth Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov in the Canadian Arctic, traversing the Northwest Passage and other waters every summer for the last fifteen years, while the 50 Years of Victory has just recently replaced its better-known sister ship, Yamal which has done these icebreaking voyages to the North Pole in previous years.

Although there has been a large amount of consolidation in the expedition voyage business, with TUI Travel taking over Quark Expeditions, Peregrine Adventures and Clipper Cruise Line's non-US flag operations, this industry has had a particularly hard time of it. While cruise lines have been happy to get targeted volumes, admittedly at much lower fares and yields, expedition companies have been desperately seeking to attract enough business.

Other companies have recently undertaken huge investments to acquire and convert new vessels for their purpose of expedition cruising, and are now exposed to both the current downturn in bookings as well as serious delays in their conversion schedules:

GAP's new ship, the 120-berth Expedition, now being converted from a Scandinavian ferry, will commence operations in the Azores this April and will then go on charter to Spitsbergen Travel for the summer. After having lost the Explorer in November 2007, the Expedition, as her replacement, was to have been ready for the 2008/09 Antarctic season, so this will now mean two seasons for GAP without their own ship in the Antarctic.

And GAP Adventures - whose last vessel was the "Little Red Ship" which I covered extensively when she sank in Antarctic waters in November 2007, are not the only ones to suffer such setbacks:

As with GAP, Oceanwide's latest ship, the 112-berth Plancius, has also been delayed. Initially due to have entered service in June 2009 in Spitsbergen waters, she will now not be ready until the 2009/10 Antarctic season in November. In the meantime Oceanwide is offering reductions of up to 30% on some February and March 2009 Antarctic departures and 25% on certain 2009/10 departures by the 49-berth Professor Molchanov, including some 12- to 21-night itineraries that are not set to depart until much later this year. One of these, the 21-night departure, was a full charter that was cancelled.

Also, not mentioned in this article but also slightly delayed was the latest addition to the National Geographic fleet, the National Geographic Explorer which was supposed to be ready in Spring 2008 but was delayed by several months and could only commence operations at the end of the Arctic season 2008.



There was some consolation in these desperate times, but only for some:

One operator that was able to take advantage of the present softness in the Antarctic market was Antarpply Expeditions of Ushuaia, whose 84-berth Ushuaia ran aground in early December. While out of commission for repairs for several weeks, her operators were able to find substitute space on other ships to protect their clients' holidays. In an ordinary season, this would have been difficult, if nor impossible, as most ships would have been sold out.

The article ends with a sobering statement:

In summary, it seems that destinations such as Alaska, the Antarctic and the High Arctic are often considered as "once in a lifetime" trips and many people are just saying "not this year."

It should be added that this market has traditionally been booked well in advance, and tour operators and travel agencies which could in earlier years be confident that they would sell them, had regularly reserved large allotments or even made down payments for whole charters. As these companies now get cold feet, they release or cancel their allotments or charters, and this is probably responsible for a large part of this sudden appearance of so many unsold berths.

So how does one become "expedition cruise guide"?

So it's been a while since I lasted posted anything - or since I even last touched my website and blogs. But from time to time, writing in "long form" is more attractive than facebook or twitter, so here is another post, jam-packed with my distilled wisdom!

From time to time passengers have asked me during our time together on an expedition cruise vessel, and more recently, a few people have approached me to learn about how they could qualify and apply for such a job. So I sat down and wrote some of them a humorous e-mail which I have now decided to elaborate on, and post here.

YOUR BACKGROUND

From what I have seen most expedition staff fall into one of the following categories:

A) the adventurers - preferably with some customer-service related background, like restaurant/hotel/travel industry...

B) the (former) science guys - biologists, geologists, geophysicists, who have pursued some interest in polar topics; mind you not all of them are actually "polar scientists"!

C) the naturalist/birder - usually not scientists, but people who have a lot of field experience and dedication to their subject

D) the history buff/former staffer at a polar installation - some of them true "armchair historians" or Shackleton fans, others with some "ice time" in a science support role

E)  the professional "outdoors guys" - kayak/dive guides, ice climbers, ski bums, etc.

F)  the "where the f*** did they find this guy?" people...

Combinations of one or several types occur, but are relatively few and far between.

WHAT YOU WILL HAVE TO DO

Before you try to figure out which category you (would like to) fit into, it is important to realize that there are a range of different job descriptions to fill on most expedition cruise vessels. They fall roughly into three categories:

1. the expedition staff (Expedition leaders, their assistants, guides, zodiac drivers, logistics support staff)

2. the hotel/hospitality staff (hotel managers, barkeepers, general assistants, chefs, sous chefs, kitchen hands, stewards)

3. the presenting staff (science lecturers/artists-in-residence/celebrity speakers...)

Now, depending on the size of the vessel, staff members might be expected to appear in at least two out of the three categories, most commonly is the combination of expedition+presenting functions, but also hospitality+expedition jobs. Sometimes, especially on the smaller vessels, you will be asked to "help out" in one of the other sectors, p.e. guides helping in serving drinks, helping in the galley, or barkeepers helping out in zodiac operations are quite common. So unless you are a "senior scientist/celebrity speaker" onboard, refusal to help out somewhere else than in your appointed specialty will reflect badly upon you. You are literally "in the same boat" with your shipmates, so when it's all hands on deck that's exactly where you should be.

Just to clarify, most people in the industry are actually not "type B" or even "type C" but even if you come from a background in, let's say corporate law & finance, you might find your niche in any of the other categories (let's just hope it is not in "type F"...). Also, if you have higher aspirations, it might be interesting to know that expedition leaders are recruited from all 6 types (yep, also from "type F" - deal with it...).

HOW TO APPLY

So here is what I recommend you do for your application:

• check out the websites and relevant literature of your prospective employer. Get an idea whether you are looking at a more "luxury-style" operator or a more "expedition-style" or even "budget" operator. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

• if you can, contact somebody "on the inside" and get the details on how the respective ships are operated, whether management seems to be knowing what they are doing, and what they are typically paying...

• find out who to contact and write a short CV outlining your relevant qualifications and experience. Be aware that these companies usually get a load of job applications and have a large staff file (or if they don't, maybe you should stay away from them...!).

• If you are willing to present something - which will maximise your chances of landing a job! - choose and shortly describe 3 (or more?) topics on which you could give a decent, public interest presentation (does not have to be "hardcore" polar science or polar history, some "human interest" stories with a polar twist - "my first polar bear"/"my time as student/guide/research diver... on Svalbard/in the Antarctic"/life at xyz scientific base" or something like that might do the trick).

HOW TO PRESENT ONBOARD

When planning and building those presentations (Powerpoint!) think pictures are better than text, simple words are better than scientific terms, funny is better than boring, and shorter is better than longer. 

Rule of thumb: not more than 30 minutes of slides, mix it up and change formats once or twice (i.e. mix still photos/video/sound bites/whiteboard/just talk...) and most important of all, allow plenty of time for interaction, questions, and debate. 

If you are confident, encourage questions during the presentation (but keep debate to the end), if you rather want to "coast through", make sure to mention that there will be time for questions at the end.

Relevant skills expected from you as guide

- happy to be with tourists all day, in a guide/leadership role

- public speaking, some polar exposure and field competence

- VHF radio and GPS skills, zodiac and outboard experience

- some wildlife spotting and interaction experience

- being able to create and support a "good vibe" within your team and on your ship

Some of this stuff can be learnt (and should be part of the operator's staff training program) while other things are just crucial skills you should bring to the table. As a rule, let's say you should check on at least three of the five points mentioned.

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A few things you should avoid

(based on real life, believe it or not)

- complain about the cold...

- narrate how the last voyage was "so much cooler"

- disappear into one's cabin whenever possible (dude, you are working!)

- express the view that penguins/reindeer are "boring"

- excessively drink and party (dude, you are still working!)

- openly f*** around with passengers...

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Of course you should have fun onboard, and you should have the right to some privacy some times, but f***ing around or constantly "disappearing" are the two sure-fire ways to get yourself fired.

The other things will at least earn you some "quality time" with senior staff or the expedition leader (EL), which in this case would not be a good thing.

Having said all that that, I would like to conclude with some words of wisdom from my buddy Mike Murphy, a polar expedition cruise pioneer - he started working as zodiac driver in the 70's, about 5 minutes after expedition cruises were invented:

"It's not about being a polar explorer hero, or a brilliant naturalist, or a super communicator, or any of that old crap people tell you in the hiring interviews..."

...

"All of the above can be faked --- and boy you will see a lot of that being done out there all the time.... "(true enough!).

"But there is one thing, and one thing only, that cannot be faked, and it is the decisive quality for a good staffer:


...



It's all about Looking Good!"

Welcome to my new blog - port of longyear

Since I start in my new job as port agent in a few days, I thought it might be cool to set up a little topical blog for this.

So here it is: Port of Longyear.

Check it out, I will try to post some nicer pics than the PortCam can provide them, and also some news and info on the boats we are currently handling.

Update on Minerva aka Explorer II aka A.v.Humboldt

Fellow blogger and cruise ship expert Doug Newman is keeping tabs on virtually every vessel on the market and has managed to research their entire owner histories. I like to cross-post these things simply for the fact that I can pepper them with links... ;-)

UPDATE: Minerva is back in route as of May 31.

Swan Hellenic has been forced to cancel its first cruise with its once and future ship, Minerva, due to unexpected generator difficulties. The eight-night Norwegian Fjords cruise was scheduled to depart from Dover on Friday 23 May, returning on Saturday, 31 May and was scheduled to call at Bergen, Flam, Ulvik, Stavanger and Kristiansand. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Hamburg tomorrow, 22 May, concluding her charter to Phoenix Reisen. According to a statement from Swan Hellenic, “[The problem] in no way affects the safety of the passengers on board and the ship will finish its current cruise on schedule this Thursday at Hamburg, where a thorough assessment can be undertaken. Once this is completed a further announcement will be made.”

The 12,331 GT, 350-berth Minerva was originally built in for Swan Hellenic in 1996 off the hull of an unfinished Russian research ship. The ship operated for Swan — then part of P&O, and later its cruise spin-off P&O Princess Cruises plc, which became Carnival plc in a merger with Carnival Corporation in 2003 — until replaced in 2003 by the larger, 30,277 GT, 710-berth Minerva II, built in 2001 as Renaissance Cruises’ R Eight. In 2006, Carnival took the decision to transfer Minerva II to Princess Cruises as Royal Princess in April 2007, and sell the now-dormant Swan Hellenic brand. While many Swan loyalists feared this unique cruise line would disappear, former P&O and P&O Princess chairman Lord Sterling came to the rescue in 2007. He quickly forged a partnership with All Leisure Group plc, parent of Voyages of Discovery, which had already arranged a charter of the former Minerva beginning in 2008. Thus the ship, which had bounced around between Saga Cruises as Saga Pearl", Abercrombie & Kent as Explorer II (with additional sub-charters to Regent Seven Seas Cruises) and Phoenix Reisen as Alexander von Humboldt, would come full circle and re-join the revived Swan Hellenic, rather than Voyages of Discovery as originally planned. Now it appears that her long-awaited re-entry into service will be slightly postponed, but that is unlikely to put much of a damper on the enthusiasm of Swan regulars, many of whom found Minerva II too large and anticipated returning to “their” ship once again.

Cruise-onomics: how to (not) save money

The good folks at Expert Cruiser have compiled an astounding list of tips how to spend and where to save money on a cruise. Having never been on a "real" cruise, only on "expedition cruises", this insight was a bit of an eye-opener:

"Cruising is one of the best vacation values going. The all-inclusive fare includes accommodations, meals and entertainment. But did you know that cruise lines get most of their revenue from the things passengers buy aboard ship? Yep. That’s why they aggressively peddle their photos, spa services, art auctions, shore excursions, jewelry, casino and drinks of the day." (click on the text for full article).

This is the new "Alexander v. Humboldt II"

In November I blogged about the recent ship changes and sometimes only name changes in the expedition cruise industry. Now it's time for a follow-up:

remember the "Alexander von Humboldt" aka Explorer II?



Now Phoenix Reisen is ending their contract with this vessel (which btw is reversing its name back to "Minerva") and instead they got another ship as of this August, and they will call her - hold on - "Alexander von Humboldt II"!



Cross-posting from fellow blogger Doug Newman:

"The ship, built in 1990 as Crown Monarch for Crown Cruise Line, spent 1994 to 2006 as a gambling ship, first as Nautican in Singapore and then as Walrus (later marketed as Neptune) from Hong Kong. In 2006 Sea Containers, the successor of the ship’s original owner, sold the ship to Club Cruise and from 2007 she was chartered to the newly-formed Spanish cruise line Vision Cruises for cruises from Valencia. It is unclear what will happen to Vision Cruises when it loses its ship in 2008.

Although not an expedition vessel, the relatively small size and maneuverability of Alexander von Humboldt II should help make her a success in her new role."

National Geographic Explorer (ex. Lyngen) takes shape

As mentioned in an earlier post, Lindblad Expeditions, the pioneer in polar expedition cruising, is currently finishing a major conversion of the former "Hurtigruten" vessel Lyngen.



You can follow the progress of their work on their website, just follow this link.

They are already planning their season, spanning from the Baltic, Norway, Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland all the way down to Patagonia. You can see their itineraries here.

This should be the most up-to-date expedition cruise vessel on the market!

Maybe I should apply for a job there some time...

End of Season - homeward bound

This will be my last post for this Antarctic season, as my vessel has just come into port and I will be flying home tomorrow. It has been a long and intense season, and I will definitely need a few days to recover and get back into normality again. I will post again as soon as "shore acclimatization" is accomplished again ;-)

Short update before the last trip

Here we are again, back in Ushuaia where things slowly start to wind down and the weather is turning even windier and chillier than during the earlier summer months... ;-)

After one trip on the "Grigoriy Mikheev" with 17 divers I was scheduled to "jump ship" once again and lead another diving expedition on the "Aleksey Maryshev", the sister ship of the "Mikheev". Unfortunately, the "Maryhsev" was not able to sail due to some engine issues, so I was suddenly stuck in town without a ship to work on.

After two days that situation was resolved and I was relocated on yet another Oceanwide vessel, the "Professor Multanovskiy", which happens to be my very first ship that I worked on for Oceanwide (Arctic summer 2002). It was certainly a challenging trip since we had a charter group onboard who were planning on doing ice climbing, kayaking and "regular excursions" every day (morning and afternoon!), and on top of that they requested to be put ashore twice for a night of camping on Antarctica.

So we were all pretty busy making it all happen, and I am happy to say that the kayaking worked out great, the climbers were happy with the spots we found for them, and also the camping worked out well. But it was pretty intense and there was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes as well (but I will not talk about that here obviously...).

Today we are heading out again, for the last voyage of the season, and we expect a full ship again. This time it will be with "normal passengers", i.e. no climbing, no camping and no (scheduled) kayaking either. I am instructed to give kayaking a go anyway if there are some experienced and interested customers onboard, and if conditions allow. Unfortunately our kayak guide had to leave after this trip so I will have to double-task: expedition leading and kayak guiding! Should be fun...

More about all that - and hopefully there will also be time for new pictures - in April when I will be back home again.

R & R in Buenos Aires

After having finished this season´s contract with Peregrine Shipping, I am taking a few days in Buenos Aires to recharge before I return to Ushuaia and to the Antarctic Peninsula for the final month of cruising. Yes, another full month! Believe it or not, my last trip is leaving on March 21 and due back in port April 1.

The next two trips will be with scuba diving customers, one on "Grigoriy Mikheev" and the next on its sister ship "Aleksey Maryshev", then the final trip will be on "Professor Multanovskiy" which is currently still operating for Quark Expeditions.

The last trip on Peregrine´s vessel "Akademik Ioffe" went to the Falklands, South Georgia and the northern Peninsula region. It was my first trip on the Ioffe and it took me a few days to get used to its slightly different setup. But the trip itself went great and the rest of the staff team were really great to work with again.

On the previous Falklands-South Georgia-AntPen (with Akad. Sergey Vavilov) trip we had made a landing on the South Orkneys, on this one we managed to zodiac cruise around Point Wild - what else can one wish for! As per usual, we got blown out of a few sites in South Georgia, but we always managed to make up for that by visiting some other places. And the Falklands impressed me yet again: incredible wildlife experiences, fantastic people, great atmosphere...

We were also briefed by several of the Quark management staff on the ongoing and future changes to the company and to our operations, now that Quark has assumed control of the former "Adventurefleet" ships, including Vavilov and Ioffe. The Quark Fleet will certainly be the biggest player on the market from now on, both in terms of ships and in terms of passenger capacity, with Hurtigruten as no.2 on the Antarctic market and Oceanwide as no. 2 on the Arctic (counting the current Arctic charter of "Antarctic Dream" as a part of the Oceanwide fleet).

On all occasions have Quark management confirmed that they will not resume scuba diving operations as part of their programme, so Oceanwide (and Waterproof Exp.) will remain the only players on that field.

Additionally, Quark is expanding its commitment in the Svalbard-East Greenland area by one ship. The Akademik Shokalsky will be joining the Akademik Sergey Vavilov in that area, so one can expect more encounters and more need for careful scheduling in the Svalbard area as well.

Interesting times!

first harbour day of 2008 Antarctic

Just a short note on how things are going down here:

I have just returned from an 18-day trip to the Falklands (Carcass & Saunders Is.), South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula on the Akademik Sergey Vavilov (see previous posts for pictures). The ship is incredibly stable and comfortable even in fairly bad weather, and so the trip was a breeze. Also, I have been working with the largest shipboard staff team yet, 20 strong! Considering that we had around 95 passengers, the staff-passenger ratio was excellent and we all had a great time.

Another new thing for me is the addition of a videographer on the staff, which happens to be my cabin mate. Unfortunately, that means that our desk is overflowing with video gear, a 24-inch iMac, tripds, DVD covers everywhere... and from time to time the cabin becomes a recording studio for voice-overs!

But the work he has done is incredible, I managed to catch a glimpse of the 40-minute high-def video that he shot, edited, sound-edited and presented, all during the voyage... he did not get too much sleep, or when he did you could see the impressions of the keyboard on his forehead... ;-)

In a few hours I am off for another voyage on the Vavilov, back in port on February 6. Hopefully, next time I get shore leave I remember to bring the CD with the images of the voyage, so I can upload some on the website. For now, this text will have to suffice.

Hurtigruten vessel "Fram" loses power, hits iceberg

It seems that the string of news about Antarctic shipping accidents is far from over:

A few days ago, Hurtigruten's newest vessel in the fleet, the FRAM has had an incident where it lost engine power for a period of 30 minutes during which the vessel drifted just past a skerry and scratched along an iceberg. The ship is currently sitting at anchorage off Ushuaia and has cancelled the trip they should have been commencing on January 02.

Antarctic season 2008 - here I come

In a few days I will be off to Buenos Aires and Ushuaia to rejoin the Adventure Fleet vessel "Akademik Sergey Vavilov". It will be a long season again - I expect to be home in the first week of April - but I have managed to put in a few days of "shore leave" in February.



This season is going to be as varied and complicated as it could be - 6 trips on 5 ships - so there should be plenty of stuff to write home about. In previous years I could have cracked a cheap joke about having no home and thus being forced to write to "the internet" but alas, that ship has sailed ;-)

Allow me to take a moment and make a quick list of 2007:

• moved into new enormous apartment with my girl (January)
• went on a spontaneous road trip around Argentina (March)
• got all the paperwork done & finalized wedding plans (May)
• finally joined a cruise around Greenland & Iceland (August)
• got married, had honeymoon in the mountains (September)
• finished another PhD article, got a nice job offer (November)
• got an even nicer job offer, submitted the article (December)

It is always weird to leave home and head out to the ships for weeks and months, but this time it might be the weirdest yet. Wish me luck and check out this blog or the "recent pictures" section in the coming weeks!

Statements following the "Explorer" sinking

Fellow blogger and cruise ship specialist Doug Newman has been following the "Explorer" shipping disaster closely, and has also gathered statements from both GAP Adventures, the operating company of the ship at the time of the sinking, as well as from Lindblad Expeditions, the original operator of the ship, which put her into service in 1969.

Doug puts the prominent place of the "Explorer" into perspective like this:

"The “little red ship” was one of the most important cruise ships in history; the seminal expedition cruise ship, she was to expedition cruising what Royal Caribbean’s Song of Norway was to the rest of the cruising world, or maybe even more."

Sven-Olof Lindblad, the son of company founder Lars-Erik Lindblad, has posted an article titled Remembering the 'Little Red Ship' which recounts some of the dramatic history of the ship while it was still in operation for Lindblad Expeditions. You can download the full article here.

GAP Adventures’ CEO Bruce Poon Tip also issued a statement regarding the loss of the ship, finishing with the words:

"The Explorer left us in very dramatic fashion. She couldn't just go quietly in the night but instead, was hanging on and danced her way out of commission. She made everyone watch for just a minute to remember her history as she hung on long enough to allow all of her passengers to disembark to safety. I would expect nothing less from her. The Explorer has been a big part of our history as a company and represented the true spirit of what makes our company special. We thank everyone who has been part of making it happen over the years."

Compulsory Pilots for Svalbard Cruise Operators?

As the local newspaper Svalbardposten reports, "Kystverket"/The Norwegian Coastal Administration has proposed to introduce compulsory pilot services for cruise ships operating in Svalbard waters, effective from next summer. This article is unfortunately only available in Norwegian.

Click here to access the Kystverket post about it or click here to download the full report. For the moment, these two items are also available in Nowegian only.

International Polar Tourism Research Network now online

As polar tourism increases, so does the body of research that studies it. This newly launched website offers a comprehensive overview of literature on the subject of polar tourism (though mostly from a geographic viewpoint, as it seems) and is according to the website's own statement meant to "...foster increased connections between the many researchers studying polar tourism. In addition, the International Polar Tourism Research Network welcomes not only researchers, but also polar tourism operators, consultants, students and community leaders shaping the industry and phenomenon of polar tourism."



The creation of the International Polar Tourism Research Network is the idea of a group of polar tourism researchers who met in 2006 at the Annual conference of the Canadian Association of Geographer held that year at Lakehead University, in Thunder Bay.



The International Polar Tourism Research Network website is supported by the Université du Québec A Montréal (UQAM) and the Centre international de formation et de recherche en tourisme (CIFORT).

Unfortunately, that makes it a bit cumbersome to search, as this function is currently only available in French.

Stricter regulations on Svalbard cruise traffic

Quote from the Governor of Svalbard's website:

"The Governor of Svalbard hereby notifies that changes are being proposed to ”The Regulations concerning the establishment of bird reserves and large nature conservation areas in Svalbard” of 1st July 1973, last amended on 1st June 2007. The process will follow the standard case procedure regulations as determined in the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act §13.

In short, the topics for the revisions mentioned above are:

1) For North-west Spitsbergen, Forlandet and South Spitsbergen national parks, it has been proposed to amend the conservation regulations such that fuel quality carried and brought on board ships and other vessels sailing within the boundaries of the above named national parks will be subject to regulation. We refer to the introduction of the regulations from 1st June 2007 for vessels sailing within North-east Svalbard and South-east Svalbard nature reserves.

2) Introduction of travel restrictions at three automatically protected cultural heritage sites in North-west Spitsbergen and one automatically protected cultural heritage site in South-Spitsbergen national park is being considered.

3) For North-east Svalbard and South-east Svalbard nature reserves, amendments may be proposed to the conservation regulations so that going ashore from cruise ships/cruise vessels will be allowed on specific locations or in specific areas only
(fixed disembarkation areas/locations).








4) It is being considered to introduce travel restrictions at Midterhuken, Bellsund, an automatically protected cultural heritage site. Such regulations will be made pursuant to the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act §42 and Public Administration Act §37.

The deadline for receipt of comments and observations relative to the above proposals is decemver 20th 2007.

On the basis of comments received and the subsequent process, the Governor will draft formal discussion documents. The discussion documents will be presented at a hearing in the spring of 2008.

Official IAATO statement on sinking of Explorer

The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) has issued an official statement summing up the reported events of the M/V Explorer incident, indicating that there is still some uncertainty as to whether or not that ship has actually sunk. Apparently, there were no direct eye witnesses of the sinking, and so it might still be floating - upside down - and thus pose a serious navigational hazard.

All member vessels are requested to keep a keen lookout around the position of 62° 23' 32" S, 57° 16' 09" W, the position from which the distress call was issued. Also, any flotsam or debris on beaches in the area should be reported.

All the passengers and ship's crew have been put ashore on King George Island, where they were received in several scientific stations there and subsequently flown out by chartered plane to Punta Arenas, Chile.

One day after the evacuation and rescue of Explorer's crew and passengers, the Oceanwide Expeditions vessel M/V Professor Molchanov patrolled the area and reported an oil spill of approximately 1 square nm around 62° 24' S 57° 12' W.

The M/V Explorer was stated to burn marine gas oil (MGO) as fuel oil and it is hoped and expected that this fuel will disperse quickly without serious adverse effects to the environment.

Little Red Ship has sunk

According to Chilean Navy reports, the M/V Explorer has disappeared from view and is assumed to have sunk.

Following reports of the maritime distress call and subsequent rescue by the Norwegian M/S Nordnorge, the media picked up reports related to inspections this May by the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) at Greenock, Scotland, as well as by Chilean port authorities in Puerto Natales in March.



The MCA found that the MS Explorer had five deficiencies, including missing search and rescue plans and lifeboat maintenance problems. However, according to MCA spokesman Mark Clarke, they had all been rectified by the time the ship set sail again. Earlier this year, Chilean port state control inspectors had found six deficiencies during an inspection of the ship. These included two related to safety of navigation matters. However, since this inspection preceded the MCA inspection, one can assume that they had been dealt with by the time the ship commenced its 2007 Antarctic season. Classification society Det Norske Veritas issued a passenger safety certificate for the vessel on October 21.



Although the vessel had older, open-type lifeboats rather than the more modern closed lifeboats, this was not in violation of any current maritime regulation and as this event showed, even open inflatables were used successfully in this abandon ship operation.

"Little Red Ship" Explorer abandoned after collision

The cruise ship "Explorer", formerly known and famous as "Lindblad Explorer" or affectionately called "the little red ship" has today issued a maritime distress call after what appears to have been an iceberg collision near King George Island, South Shetlands, Antarctica. All passengers and crew have abandoned ship and have been transferred to the Norwegian Hurtigruten vessel M/S Nordnorge, which also serves as an Antarctic cruise ship during austral summer months.



The "Explorer" was built 1969 in Nystad, Finland for a Norwegian company, K/S A/S Explorer & Co, Oslo, Norway. It had been especially designed as ice-strengthened cruise ship and is one of the pioneering vessels of polar expedition cruising.

In 1972 the ship was already involved in a shipping desaster in the very same area in Antarctica, namely King George Island, when it ran aground at Punta la Plaza/Plaza Point (62°05'S 58°22'W). It was abandoned by its crew and could be salvaged only about two weeks later, by the German tug boat "Arctic". Following that incident, it was sold to new owners, United Cruising Co Ltd (also known as "Svenska Amerika Linien") who repaired her and put her back into traffic.



The vessel changed owners, names, flags and homeports repeatedly during the 80's and received a major overhaul in 1985 in Singapore as well as another overhaul in 1993. In 1989 it was also in the headlines as it assisted in the "Bahia Paradiso" shipping disaster where the Argentine supply vessel sank near the USAP base Palmer Station on Anvers Island.

It became quite famous as "Lindblad Explorer", named after the Swedish polar tourism pioneer Lars Eric Lindblad who together with his son Sven Olof Lindblad pioneered in expedition travel, both shipborne and overland. Their company has since developed into a partnership with National Geographic and currently operates a fleet of 6 National Geographic vessels. Ironically, the newest addition to their fleet, the National Geographic Explorer, is going to be a refitted Hurtigruten ship, the former Lyngen.

In 2004, the original Explorer/Lindblad Explorer was purchased by GAP Adventures, Toronto and received yet another major overhaul in Genoa, Italy. Already the 2004/05 Antarctic season it was back in traffic again. Since then it has resumed cruising the Antarctic Peninsula, the Amazonas, the European and Canadian Arctic.



It seems as if this vessel has finally been forced to end its long and adventurous career.

P.S.: Another ironic coincidence about the role of the Hurtigruten ships in Antarctic expedition cruising: in February this year (2007) the sister ship of M/S Nordnorge, the M/S Nordkapp, ran aground near Deception Island and had to transfer her passengers to M/S Nordnorge.

P.P.S.: During the initial rescue and relief effort for the "Explorer", she also received assistance by her replacement of Lindblad Expeditions, the National Geographic Endeavour.

UPDATE: Explorer has sunk

First allocation of fundings from Svalbard's environmental protection fund

(republished after Svalbard Science Forum homepage - news)

At 1 October 2007, the deadline for the first announcement of Svalbard's environmental protection fund, 26 different applicants had submitted 42 proposals for diverse projects and initiatives related to environmental protection in Svalbard. The total sum applied for was 11.2 Mio NOK and 46.4 % of the applications were research related.

The board of the fund has now allocated in total 1.7 Mio NOK to 15 projects and initiatives. Of these 15 projects 38% were research projects with a total sum of 640.000 NOK.

The Svalbard's environmental protection fund is pursuant to the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act. The fund's resources are used for projects and initiatives with the purpose of protecting the environment. The fund is financed by dues and funding allocation is dependant upon the income. The sources of income are the environment fee, fees fro hunting and fishing cards, the value of the flora and fauna which is handled in violation of the Svalbard environmental law and environmental compensations and enforced penalties set by The Governor of Svalbard.

The fund announces twice a year a call of proposals.

Click here to download the full list of accepted and denied proposals, with the respective sums applied for and granted. You can also find the file on my download pages.

DEMA show 2007 - Orlando

Last week, the "Diving Equipment & Marketing Association" (DEMA) held their annual trade fair at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. This event is the industry's only international trade-only event and regularly features new product showcases, new destinations, and new companies.



Oceanwide Expeditions has traditionally been one of the exhibitors at the show, and this year I was invited to join the US staff at the booth and to give the seminar presentations on Oceanwide's polar diving activities.



To give you a feeling for the size of the event, here is a floorplan (Oceanwide's booth is marked with a red circle).



Apart from the two seminar presentations, we had to man the booth during opening hours, meet with long-time clients as well as potential future business partners and offer information, brochures and in-depth information (no pun intended ;-) about our diving operations.



Here you can see Marina (Oceanwide's US office) and Michel (Oceanwide's executive director) at our booth.

We had a quite successful show, all things considered, and have been able to establish some very interesting contacts as well as renewed some previous contacts with tour operators and agents. This was not a customer event and there were almost no items on display or for purchase. Such trade-only events seem mostly about number-crunching and hand-shaking and not so much about buying or selling, but I was able to check out some new products and make some contacts with equipment manufacturers in between presentations.

One of the most interesting things to see during the show were the new Poseidon Cis-Lunar Mk VI rebreather which is a remarkably compact and lightweight unit.



It also bears strange resemblance to the Seaway CORA II rebreather which I was able to test dive last year in prototype version. Unfortunately this unit never really made it into full production and sales, the company seems to have disappeared or at least its internet presence is suspended (site under construction).

Another interesting bit of news is the Poseidon Flexisuit which is hoped to appeal to the advanced rebreather and technical diver community. I tried it, it is extremely soft and flexible, but for my taset even TOO soft and TOO flexible.

But a front-entry zip has of course always en vogue in the tech/rb community so I guess this suit is going to be a hit (just not with me). Here is a picture:



Another exciting new product which unfortunately was not quite ready yet for the market is the OTS full-face mask. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture but it resembles pretty much the Interspiro (AGA) mask that everybody knows as the "gold standard" for lightweight FFM's.



Interspiro Divator

But the guys at OTS had the ambition to make an even better FFM so they pulled up a list of issues that users have had with the IS Divator mask:

• bad fit for small/narrow faces
• regulator is permanently attached to FFM body
• regulator comes from the left (as is usual in rescue/recovery, professional and firefighter masks, but not in sports diving)
• mask body has quite large volume above the oral/nasal cavity (thus often requires counterweights attached to the sides)
• quite highly priced

So they tried to fix it, and here is what they came up with (so sorry, still only text):

• double latex seal for improved fit
• detacheable regulator (p-connector with release button inside)
• regulator can be mounted from left or right
• mask body with smaller volume (only slightly, but they say it makes a difference...)
• roughly 50% of the retail price of the IS Divator (but shipping will start approx. in 6 months, so who knows...)

On top of that they have decided to offer it in a range of attractive color combinations... ;-)






I ended up not buying (or rather, ordering) a mask from them yet, as they admitted that it would still need a couple of rounds of serious tests and "some small adjustments and improvements".

But it looks like as if I will be going to the DEMA 2008 as well, next year it will be in Las Vegas, and by then they promised to have the mask ready and shipping!

Images of OTS FFM prototypes by remi, Hareid Sub Sea, originally posted at www.dykkesiden.no.

finally home again

Finally home again!

Arctic expedition cruise season finished

After 2.5 months of cruising the waters of Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland, I am finally back onshore - although still not home but on Svalbard ;-)

My "new" ship, the Vavilov, and the operator Peregrine proved to be a great success and a very enjoyable experience indeed. Many thanks to all who have sailed with me in this July and August!



I will shortly make the trip logs of the Vavilov reports available on my own download pages but some of them are currently also available on the operator's web pages at adventurefleet.com/files.

I am looking forward to a more relaxed autumn with some more teaching at the university center on Svalbard and some desk time at my new home office. And by the way, I am also getting married... ;-)

Another harbour day in Longyearbyen

Back from another week-long trip around Northern Spitsbergen. We had a lot of good weather, but still too much ice in Hinlopen and around Sjuøyane, so some landings had to be cancelled and the ship had to be rerouted several times.



But nobody seemed to mind, least of all the captain who is remarkably "ice-happy" and cooperative. The group, a mix of Irish, British and Dutch with a couple of other nationalities (Russian, Australian, South African, Swiss, Belgian... forgot any?) were a happy bunch and the only remarkable problem we encountered was another ship that had taken our spot on Fuglesangen - not exactly a first, but definitvely strange to see how Svalbard logistics starts to resemble the Antarctic IAATO bureaucracy more and more, the forms, the "all-ship schedule e-mails" etc.

We finally received the compressor and brand-new scuba tanks (although I will not get too excited until they are actually loaded and stored onboard the vessel). So in fact I will need to rush back to the ship and install and check everything...

Next post in approx. one week.

First Arctic Diving Trip 2007 - some pics and comments

You can find a recently updated selection of Arctic Summer pictures here. The trip started with a minor logistical hickup - the diving bottles and the compressor had not been transferred from the other vessel as planned, and the new equipment that had been bought and shipped as replacements did never arrive in Longyearbyen -but thanks to several helpful contacts in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, we managed to get everything necessary together within a hectic few hours. Thanks again to the Longyearbyen Dykkerklubb, University Center (logistics department), Norwegian Polar Institute, and Kings Bay a/s.

We had a great trip with 14 divers from the Netherlands, Ireland, and Great Britain, and we managed to get two really good iceberg dives as well as one dive north of 80° N (off Lågøya).

Brilliant weather and plentiful wildlife, experienced divers and a good team of expedition guides (thanks to Martin, Monika, Mick, and Mike) made sure that this trip turned out just great!

In a few hours, Monika, Mick and myself will be off for another seven days of cruising (this time without diving) and I am already looking forward to that. The next posting and fresh pictures will come on the 27.06.

Pre-season dresscode remarks

It is three days until the Arctic season 2007 starts for me, and I just realized that most people probably have a totally wrong perception of "working at sea": images of sailors with scraggly beards, unwashed feet and rough language spring to mind, while the same "sailors" are expected to be well-kempt, well-dressed and - in short - tamed by their spouses and families.

It turns out it is all the other way around... ;-)



In fact, right now both my landlord (oil platform medic) and his son-in-law (geophysical survey technician) prepare to go out at sea at the same day as me, and we all will have to shave, get a haircut, collect the newly ironed shirts with company logos and start thinking "company-speak" those days before we fly out. Out at work, we will be well-dressed, well-kempt and as polite as possible (well, the oil rig "company speak" might be a bit rougher at times) until we come home again.

Then we will go back to running around in the Harley-Davidson t-shirts, ski bum outfit, and faded jeans (banned on my workplace, can you believe it!) and grow our beards again (as much as our spouses will tolerate...).

Watch out for weekly to bi-weekly updates on the blog on the way things will go in the Arctic: diving, kayaking, new people and new vessels should make for yet another interesting season!

March of the Tourists

DEVIL ISLAND, Antarctica (CNN) -- Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest place in the world but during the high summer, it can feel decidedly mild.

From the top of Devil Island, off the eastern edge of the Antarctic Peninsula, the watery sun reflects off the vast tabular icebergs drifting around the Weddell Sea. At the base of the island, as many as 20,000 pairs of Adélie penguins make their home.

Moored offshore is the MS Explorer, a 75 meter cruise ship which can take up to 105 passengers. Four inflatable Zodiacs dart back and forth from the vessel, bringing tourists to shore to see the penguins up close.

Mary Brogan, 55, from Dublin, has been planning this trip for over a year with her husband and five friends. But now she's here, she says she worries about the impact of tourism.

"We definitely disturb the wildlife by coming here," Brogan says. "There are crowds of us on the beaches, sticking cameras in the poor penguins' faces."

Tourist numbers are rising to Antarctica even though this is a high-priced vacation. A 10-day cruise trip costs upward of $4,000 but the number of visitors has doubled in the last three years to nearly 30,000.

Dr Shannon Fowler, 32, from California, is a marine mammal biologist and lectures to the passengers on board Explorer.

"I do face a personal dilemma about bringing tourists here but if people can't see something, will they really want to protect it? If you blocked tourism, how many people would say, 'no, you can't mine here' or 'let's protect this place'?"

More tourism will raise public awareness about Antarctica's unique ecosystem but there are also fears about higher traffic to the region. Cruise ship accidents remain one of the biggest threats to the environment.

Last month, the MS Nordkapp cruise ship hit rocks near Deception Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula, spilling diesel oil into the bay.

Stephen Ansfee is Explorer's Expedition Leader. "We are getting close to capacity in Antarctica and as the ships get bigger, so do the environmental risks. We will need stricter controls as tourism grows."

Most travel companies in the region subscribe to IAATO, the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, which sets guidelines to manage tourism here. The problem is IAATO is a voluntary self-regulated organization and anyone can opt out of the system.

Because no one owns Antarctica, no one is responsible for the continent's safeguard. For better or worse, the future of Antarctica may depend on how many people choose to save up and make the once-in-a-lifetime journey.

Mary Brogan agrees. "Of course I am going to tell my friends about Antarctica when I get home. But am I doing any good encouraging them to come here? It's hard to know."

By Michelle Jana Chan, CNN

back from the Antarctic Peninsula

Just a quick update for the blog (when have I last touched it... :rolleyes:)

I just returned from Antarctica via Argentina (which, according to the Argentineans, really is the same thing... ;-) and will post some news, links and pics here and on my home page. Expect some new sites and designs there, too!

I should also be able to put together a little picture album of some Antarctic diving as well as zodiac landing, as well as a download section (no, not for the pics... ;-) where you can get the full-text, color and image files of some expedition logs as pdf files.

So watch and feel free to comment.

You like icebergs? Bring your own!

I just found this gem over at Divester, another of my regular blogs to watch.

Sure, climbing around on icebergs is a tempting, but quite risky thing to do, and even if you come in a dry suit, which will keep you relatively safe and warm in case you slip and splash, there still is one issue that stands between you and iceberg fun most of the time: when you need one, there is none!



Here you see me practice on a little one... ;-) note that 90% of the berg's mass is under water, just like it says in the books...

Of course, inversely, when you are in a rush, they are all over the place!



But thanks to the excellent folks at Comfort 1st.com, you can now get a safe, fun and practical solution: an inflatable iceberg!



Just US $5,999.95 (add US $ 200 for shipping) and it's yours!

(Approx. 20' x 14' x 14'. Ages 14 +)