Ī mayday call was put out by the ship at 04:24 UTC, and rescue operations were quickly coordinated by the Prefectura Naval (Coast Guard Corps) of the Argentine Republic, and the Chilean Navy Center for Search and Rescue. Some reports also indicate that the ship drifted into an iceberg on the Explorer's starboard side while the crew was assessing damage caused by the original impact to the port side of the ship. Although some reports indicate there had been no noticeable impact, or at least nothing more than the normal crunching of ice experienced when sailing through icy waters, other reports say that there was a loud bang. Ī passenger reported sea water in the cabin at about 03:00 UTC. The object struck by the Explorer caused a 10-by-4 inch (25 × 10 cm) hole to the ship's port side (left side) which allowed sea water to enter the ship. After visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island the Explorer hit an unidentified submerged object in the Bransfield Strait close to King George Island in the Antarctic Ocean, near the South Shetland Islands, on November 23, 2007. The ship left Ushuaia, Argentina on November 11, 2007, on a 19-day cruise intended to trace the route of 20th century explorer Ernest Shackleton through the Drake Passage (an area typically stormy with rough seas). The Explorer was depicted on at least two postage stamps issued by South Georgia. In 1998 Explorer was the first ship to sail around the James Ross Island. It was towed to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then to Kristiansand, Norway for repairs. On Februthe Explorer ran aground (into the ground) near La Plaza Point, Antarctica its passengers, Lars-Eric Lindblad among them, were rescued by the Chilean Navy. The vessel was originally named the Lindblad Explorer in honor of Lars-Eric Lindblad. The ship was built to stay afloat with two of its compartments filled with water, and its ice class on the HELCOM scale was IC. History Ĭommissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad, the Swedish- American pioneer of exotic expedition tours, the Explorer was built in 1969 at Nystads Varv shipyard in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The Explorer was confirmed by the Chilean Navy to have sunk at approximately position: 62 degrees 24 minute South and 57 degrees 16 minutes west, between South Shetlands and Grahams Land, in the Bransfield Strait, where the depth is roughly 2,000 feet (600 m). Everyone escaped from Explorer in the early hours of November 23, 2007, after taking on water near the South Shetland Islands in the Southern Ocean, which is usually stormy, but was calm at the time. Besides being the first cruise ship ever built specifically to ply the frigid waters of the Antarctic Ocean, the Explorer became the first ever to sink there when it struck an unidentified submerged object, possibly ice, on November 23, 2007, which caused a 10-by-4 inch (25 × 10 cm) gash in the hull.
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