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Pole Star watches over the last voyage of the 'little red ship'

One of the icons of adventure cruising sank in November 2007. The aptly named MV Explorer, built in 1969 and operated by GAP Shipping Co Ltd, is one of the best-known specialist cruise ships in the world. It pioneered the tourist market for Antarctic tours, taking in South Atlantic highlights such as the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

The ship was on a 19-day circuit of Antarctica and the Falklands on a cruise that included observing penguins, whales and other regional wildlife, with 100 passengers and 54 crew aboard.

By hitting an iceberg, just 75 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula, the ship sustained damage to the hull and started to take on water. Whilst the captain and crew attempted to pump out the vessel, the alarm was raised, and in temperatures below freezing, the ship's passengers and crew were evacuated onto another vessel, the cruise ship Nord Norge.

GAP Shipping has been using Pole Star’s services for many years and M/S Explorer was being tracked for GAP Shipping by Pole Star. Technical manager for GAP shipping Peter Burman was grateful for this service. “The operations and technical team here in Sweden used the Pole Star tracking system via the web, so we could follow the drifting of the ship on an on-line chart. By polling the vessel before she sank, the last position data was recorded and saved in the Pole Star system, along with the track history reports.”

Whilst the rescue of the passengers and crew went smoothly, the ship herself could not be saved. The M/S Explorer sank in the Bransfield Strait, 62 degrees 24 minute South and 57 degrees 16 minutes west, between South Shetlands and Grahams Land, in waters estimated to be 2,000 feet deep. A sad fate to befall such a great lady of the sea, known as the 'little red ship' to her fans.

Peter Burman continues “We watched with great sadness the remainder of her voyage, but using the Pole Star system gave those of us here in the office a chance to continue to watch over her, until she sank.”