Playing Titanic - Update
And the news is that the Canadian eco-tourism cruise ship Explorer has sunk in the waters near Antarctica. (Earlier post here.)
The entire vessel finally slipped beneath the waves Friday evening, about 20 hours after the predawn accident near Antarctica's South Shetland Islands, the Chilean navy said.
No injuries were reported although passengers reportedly endured subfreezing temperatures for several hours as they waited in bobbing lifeboats for a Norwegian liner that took them to a Chilean military base in the region.
"The ship ran into some ice. It was submerged ice and the result was a hole about the size of a fist in the side of the hull so it began taking on water … but quite slowly," said Susan Hayes of G.A.P. Adventures of Toronto, which owns the stricken MS Explorer. "The passengers are absolutely fine. They're all accounted for, no injuries whatsoever."
Throughout the day, Chilean aerial photographs showed the ship listing heavily, its white superstructure and red hull starkly visible against the gray, choppy waters and overcast skies. The navy eventually lost sight of the ship and wreckage indicated it had gone under completely, according to a navy press officer who declined be identified in accordance with department policy.
I am not buying that a fist-sized hole did this. The watertight doors should have limited the flooding to whatever the compartment with a hole that size was in. Something else happened here and the spin doctors are out in force from the company. Earlier reports said that the ship was specifically designed to resist ice. There will be a lot more coming out about this.
By Mwalimu Daudi, Friday, 23 November , 2007 @ 11:29 pm
I blame the presence of US troops in Iraq, global warming, domestic spying, Koran flushing, the illegal war for oil etcetera and so forth.
Hope you and yours had a happy Thanksgiving!
By NortonPete, Saturday, 24 November , 2007 @ 8:22 am
Can you imagine how different the news coverage of this incident would be if the ship was owned by an oil company? Not an oil tanker, but simply a ship transporting perhaps employees.
Wow, the news media would be reporting on the amount of fuel onboard, the amount of salad oil dressing being spilled etc.
By old_dawg, Saturday, 24 November , 2007 @ 8:34 am
I rather doubt there will be much more on this. The ship sank, so any speculation on the cause is futile. It does seem a bit much for a small hole like that would sink the ship.