M/V EXPLORER

23 november 2007

Collision & Sinking

VESSEL & Interveners

Barbados

24, avenue de Fontvieille, Monte Carlo MONACO

Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association

Lloyd's Agency

Chilean Navy

NB : Information from 1 to 20 were found on public websites

The 23 november 2007, during a routine trip in antartica, the passenger vessel EXPLORER seems to have hit an iceberg. Severe damage were sustained by the vessel and all the crew and passengers had to be evacuated. Some hours later, all were saved by an other vessel and Chilean Navy. Vessel sunk some hours later.

 
Agrandir le plan

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Lloyd's List

Insurers assess cost of Explorer loss By James Brewer - Friday 23 November 2007 WHILE the impact of the Explorer casualty on the insurance market is expected to be next to zero, its implications are serious. Underwriters have become increasingly concerned over incidents involving cruiseships, and the dangers of trading in difficult areas including the Antarctic. All the big P&I mutuals have warned of the huge cost of injury and death to passengers and crew, especially where they could be pursued in popular litigant jurisdictions, such as the US. Hull insurers are meanwhile nervous of clients cashing in on the trend towards more adventurous holiday destinations. With the passengers and crew of the Explorer safe, and the small hull value may be syndicated among a small number of insurers, the immediate effect of the mishap should be easily absorbed by carriers, which include on the liability side Steamship Mutual. Hull insurers noted that premium rates have remained stubbornly static despite nearly $800m of losses in the first quarter of 2007, although there is hope that they can be kicked a little higher at new year renewals

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Lloyd's List

Concerns over Antartica charting By Mike Hood - Friday 23 November 2007 VESSELS visiting Antarctica are not only growing in number but also in size, something that environmentalists have been concerned about in terms of the impact of expedition-type cruises on this part of the world. The Falkland Islands is expecting its busiest ever cruise season in 2007/2008 during the southern hemisphere’s summer, with over 81,000 passengers expected to visit the islands, up nearly 60% on figures for last year. A total of 113 cruise ship visits are planned for capital Stanley, a 24% increase on the previous season, from 46 different ships, with nine maiden ship calls. All vessels are on cruises to the Antarctic, taking in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Local port agent Sulivan Shipping has expanded operations and is now offering 14 different shore excursions for passengers, including golf and in-home tours. However, the operators of cruiseships visiting this part of the world, ranging from dedicated expedition cruiseships to the more traditional cruiseships which are ice-classed, limit the number of passengers they carry on voyages to Antarctica in a concerted effort to maintain the highest levels of environmental protection for this fragile part of the world. There have also been concerns about outdated navigation charts for this part of the world, so much so that earlier this year the Royal Navy’s Antarctic Patrol Ship HMS Endurance completed a major hydrographic survey of the area to update Admiralty Charts. During Endurance’s nine month deployment the vessel’s hi-tech multi-beam echo sounder system surveyed 15,500km of seabed, mostly uncharted waters in the Antarctic Peninsular, where more and more cruiseships are heading each year. Data collected by the vessel’s surveys has been passed to the UK Hydrographic Office in Taunton and turned into navigation charts. Endurance’s Commanding Officer Capt. Bob Tarrant told Lloyd’s List that he ‘believed that the survey work just completed by his ship will be a major factor in increased cruiseship safety in Antarctica.’ At the end of January this year the Norwegian cruise vessel Nordkapp ran aground off Deception Island, part of the South Shetland Islands, with 370 passenger aboard and although the official enquiry has yet to be published on this incident, it is believed that outdated charts are thought to have led to this potentially disastrous accident. Endurance sails from Portsmouth on 28 November for an 18 month deployment in Antarctica, where it will carry out more survey work to update Admiralty Charts.

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Lloyd's List

Sinking cruiseship -inspectors found defects By David Osler - Friday 23 November 2007 Explorer: passengers evacuated to lifeboats. ONE hundred passengers and 54 crew escaped have been rescued from a cruiseship that apparently hit an iceberg in the Antarctic Ocean, near the South Shetland Islands. The 1969-built Explorer registered to Gap Shipping, a subsidiary of Gap Adventures is reported to be sinking and listing at 25 degrees. Lloyd’s List has discovered that the vessel had five deficiencies at its last inspection, including missing search and rescue plans and lifeboat maintenance problems. Watertight doors were described as “not as required”, and the fire safety measures also attracted criticism. The port state control checks were undertaken by Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency at Greenock in May this year. Chilean port state control inspectors also found six deficiencies during an inspection in Puerto Natales in March. This includes two related to safety of navigation matters.There is no record of the ship having been detained in recent years. Classification society Det Norske Veritas issued a passenger safety certificate for the vessel on October 21, according to the MCA. DNV representative Aage Enghaug said this morning that he was unable to confirm the date, but added: “The ship has been in DNV class for many years as a passengership, and that [a passenger safety certificate] is part of normal class notation.” International Safety Management code documentation was issued by Lloyd’s Register, he said. A spokesman for the UK Hydrographic Office said: “Chart BA 3205 is the best scale for the position of the incident. It was published in 1949, with the latest edition published in 2003. “Notices to Mariners have been published up to and including this year. We do not know whether the vessel was carrying and using our charts.” Andy Cattrell, of the Falmouth Coastguard, said about 100 passengers and 54 crew members have been evacuated and are in lifeboats. The captain and the chief officer are understood to have remained on board the vessel. Gap Shipping said in a statement the vessel sustained damage to her hull at approximately 0300hrs GMT and the ingress of water caused a starboard list. US Coastguard reported at 0700hrs that Argentina has sent two vessels to assist, which are due on the scene in two hours. V.Ships president Roberto Giorgi said the vessel was managed by V.Ships Leisure until November 2006, when Gap Shipping took management in-house. Although V.Ships Leisure still handles crewing for the vessel, and has around 60 crew members attached to it, mostly from the Phillipines. The captain is believed to be a Swedish national. Managers at Steamship Mutual P&I, the owner’s liability insurer for the Explorer, were co-ordinating the club’s response to the incident, writes James Brewer.

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TF1

Le capitaine du bateau de croisière Explorer, qui a coulé vendredi dans les eaux de l'Antarctique après une collision avec un iceberg, croyait d'abord que son navire avait heurté une baleine. Le Suédois Bengt Witman, 49 ans, capitaine du bateau naufragé, a expliqué à la presse chilienne avoir "tout d'abord pensé qu'il s'agissait d'un choc avec une baleine" avant de se rendre compte, par les échanges via la radio de bord, que la situation devenait "désespérée", selon ses propos cités par le quotidien La Tercera. Le trou dans la coque du navire, dû à la collision avec l'iceberg, n'était pourtant pas de taille importante. Il était "un peu plus grand qu'un poing", a précisé le capitaine. Cela n'a toutefois pas empêché l'Explorer de couler en l'espace d'une demi-journée. La collision s'était produite dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi à 0h34 heure locale, à proximité de l'île du Roi Georges. Les opérations de transbordement des passagers sur des canots de sauvetage ont commencé presque six heures après la collision et le navire a totalement sombré vers 15h30 vendredi. Bengt Witman, qui a quitté le dernier son bateau naufragé, s'est félicité que toutes les personnes à bord, 91 passagers, leurs neuf accompagnateurs et 54 membres d'équipage, soient sains et saufs. Ils ont tous été recueillis par le navire norvégien Nordnorge qui se trouvait dans la zone du naufrage. Tous étaient toutefois bloqués samedi par des vents violents et une faible visibilité dans des bases militaires de l'Antarctique, d'où ils devaient gagner par avion Punta Arenas, dans le sud du Chili.

Seems to be caused by a collision with an iceberg.....same story but not same consequences....fortunately...!

Hull :

TBA

Sources :

Willis Marine Market Review

Crédits

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