page_title: MV Explorer (1969)
section_title: Sinking
hierarchical_section_title: MV Explorer (1969) / Sinking
caption_attribution_description: Location map for the Livingston Island.
context_page_description: MS Explorer was a Liberian-registered cruise ship, the first vessel of its kind used specifically to sail the icy waters of the Antarctic Ocean. It was the first cruise ship to sink there, when she struck an iceberg on 23 November 2007. All passengers and crew were rescued.
  The ship was commissioned and operated by the Swedish explorer Lars-Eric Lindblad. Its 1969 expeditionary cruise to Antarctica was the forerunner for today's sea-based tourism in that region.
  The vessel was originally named MS Lindblad Explorer, and MS Society Explorer until 1992. Ownership of the vessel changed several times, the last owner being the Toronto-based travel company G.A.P Adventures which acquired Explorer in 2004.
  Explorer was abandoned in the early hours of 23 November 2007 after taking on water near the South Shetland Islands in the Southern Ocean, an area which is usually stormy but was calm at the time. Explorer was confirmed by the Chilean Navy to have sunk at approximate position 62° 24′ South, 57° 16′ West, between South Shetlands and Grahams Land, in the Bransfield Strait, where the depth is roughly 600 m.
context_section_description: Explorer departed from Ushuaia, Argentina on 11 November 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). After visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia she hit an iceberg in the Bransfield Strait close to King George Island in the Southern Ocean, near the South Shetland Islands, on 23 November 2007. The object struck by Explorer made a gash in the hull which allowed water to enter. The Argentine navy later said in a statement it observed "significant" damage. The official report of the sinking noted: "The damage sustained had to have extended along the length of the vessel from Cabins 308 to 314 for at least a distance of 3.6 meters, and, in all likelihood, had punctured and sliced holes along the shell plating."
  Passengers on Explorer reported a loud "bang" at the time of impact, although others reported that there had been no noticeable impact, or at least nothing more than the normal crunching of ice experienced when sailing through icy waters. One passenger reported sea water in their cabin at about 03:00 UTC. Some reports also indicate that the ship drifted into an iceberg on Explorer's starboard side while the crew was assessing damage caused by the original impact, also to the starboard side of the ship.
  A 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 Argentina and the Chilean Navy Center for Search and Rescue. Chile dispatched the icebreaker Almirante Viel, and nearby commercial ships including the MN Ushuaia, the National Geographic Endeavor, and the Norwegian Coastal Express ship MS Nordnorge which was operating as a passenger cruise ship at the time. By 07:30 UTC, all 91 passengers, 9 guides and 54 crew, from over 14 countries, were evacuated and had taken to the Explorer's lifeboats. The evacuees drifted for 5 hours until they were picked up by the Norwegian ship MS Nordnorge which arrived on scene at approximately 10:00 UTC.
  All of those rescued by Nordnorge were taken to the Chilean Frei Montalva Station on King George Island where they were subsequently airlifted by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft of the Chilean Air Force to Punta Arenas, Chile in two separate flights, one on Saturday 24 November and the other on Sunday 25 November. Those passengers not taken to Punta Arenas (an estimated 70) were taken to Uruguay's Artigas Base. Explorer was completely submerged at 19:00 UTC, approximately 20 hours after the initial impact and damage to her hull.
  Explorer was designed, like most ships, with compartments which could be sealed off by watertight doors; the ship would not sink if holed and one compartment flooded, but was not safe if more compartments were flooded, either by a gash spanning compartments or imperfect sealing between compartments. GAP reported that there was a crack in addition to the hole, but it is not clear if it spanned compartments.
  In an article published on 8 December 2007, experts consider that Explorer was "perfect for ice navigation", and consider that the explanation of the sinking "doesn't add up" and that "essential pieces of the story are missing".
caption: Location of King George Island
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