Second Antarctic Cruise Accident in Less Than Two Months

Published Jan 4, 2008 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

The Hurtigruten-owned, 12,700-gross ton MS Fram lost power and drifted into a glacier at Brown Bluff at 9:40 p.m. on Friday, December 28. This incident is the second Antarctic cruise accident in a little over a month. The first occurred on November 23 when the G.A.P. Adventures-owned M/S Explorer sank in Bransfield Strait off King George Island after striking ice.

According to a Hurtigruten press statement, “MS Fram is sailing to Ushuaia, Argentina, after engine problems in Antarctica on December 28 caused the ship to drift into a glacier front at Brown Bluff and suffer damage to a single lifeboat . . . There were no reported injuries to passengers nor damage to the ship itself. The ship was able to restart its engines quickly and made its way to Chilean base Frei at King Georges Island for inspection. After the inspection, the decision was made to send the ship back to Ushuaia, scheduled to arrive on January 2.” When MarEx went online, no information on the inspection’s findings had yet been released.

Because the company “takes safety very seriously” and believes that “. . . it is of the outmost importance that the ship and all safety equipment on board are in perfect condition,” Hurtigruten decided to cancel the scheduled January 2 Antarctic cruise in order to replace the lifeboat and to discover and fix the engine problems. This cancellation affects about 240 passengers, as well as those on the cruise that began on December 25 that was cut short by the incident. To recompense these passengers, Hurtigruten has developed a compensation plan that is outlined below:

Passengers on board the current voyage (December 25) will receive [a] refund still to be determined by Hurtigruten's insurance program caused by the loss of a significant part of their voyage. In addition they will receive a 30% off for a future sailing on the Norwegian Coastal Voyage or to Antarctica.

Guests booked on the January 2 sailing will receive a full refund of cruise and components booked as well as 50% off future Antarctica or Coast of Norway sailings.

However, per a Hurtigruten press release, the plan does have some stipulations: “Re-bookings with the discount must be made by April 1, 2008, are non-transferrable, and can be for 2008-2009 season.” Apparently, “Hurtigruten is making every effort to book all passengers on departures that run through February, 2008.” The MS Fram is expected to resume her originally schedule cruise departures on January 10.

See Hurtigruten’s Web site here for the latest news on the MS Fram.