What Cruise Ship Sank in Antarctica?

By Anna Duncan

On November 23, 2007, the MS Explorer cruise ship sank in Antarctic waters near the South Shetland Islands. The sinking was a tragedy that shocked the world and took the lives of five passengers and crew members.

The MS Explorer was a German-built cruise ship operated by GAP Adventures and designed to operate in polar waters. It was built in 1969 and had undergone several upgrades over the years. The vessel was initially designed for scientific research, but had been modified to accommodate up to 144 passengers and crew members for both expedition cruises and tourism.

On the day of its sinking, the MS Explorer had been on an 11-day Antarctic expedition with 154 passengers and crew members onboard. The incident occurred at about 10:45pm local time when a large iceberg struck the vessel near King George Island, causing a breach in its hull that flooded several compartments within minutes.

The crew immediately initiated emergency procedures, including an evacuation order to abandon ship via lifeboats. However, due to the darkness of night, strong winds and icy temperatures, only some people were able to make it safely onto lifeboats while others were forced into cold ocean waters while awaiting rescue.

The Chilean Navy responded quickly to the distress call by dispatching helicopters which rescued all 154 people on board within two hours of the incident occurring. Tragically however, five people were reported missing after they had fallen overboard during evacuation operations or jumped off into icy waters while waiting for rescue helicopters.

In response to this tragedy, GAP Adventures canceled all remaining Antarctic expeditions for that season out of respect for those who lost their lives in this incident; however they continued operating other adventure travel trips worldwide until 2018 when it ceased operation altogether citing financial difficulties as its main reason for closure.

The sinking of MS Explorer is a reminder of how dangerous polar regions can be even with modern technology and safety features onboard today’s vessels; it also serves as a reminder that safety protocols must always be followed so as to avoid similar tragedies from occurring again in the future.

In conclusion, What Cruise Ship Sank in Antarctica? The MS Explorer cruise ship sunk in Antarctic waters near South Shetland Islands on November 23rd 2007 tragically taking 5 lives with it. The accident was due to an iceberg collision which breached its hull flooding several compartments within minutes prompting an immediate evacuation procedure that unfortunately resulted in these casualties despite swift rescue operations by Chilean Navy helicopters who managed to save all 154 people onboard within two hours of distress calls being made.