Canadians rescued from sinking ship in Antarctic
Updated Fri. Nov. 23 2007 8:25 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
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Ten Canadians are among the passengers rescued from a cruise ship that struck a chunk of ice in Antarctic waters and has now gone down.
All passengers have been rescued safely from the MS Explorer, a cruise ship operated by Toronto-based travel company G.A.P. Adventures.
Ragnar Norum of the Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten, confirmed the ship, which had been listing badly, has now sunk. The passengers and crew have been taken aboard the Nordnorge, a cruise ship owned by Hurtigruten, and are being cared for, he said.
"They have been a little shocked about this, of course, because now the Explorer has sunk," Norum told CTV Newsnet.
"It has sunk, we know it has, but everybody and the crew and the captain and the passengers are on board our ship now."
The Explorer developed a fist-sized hole in its hull after running into ice, said Susan Hayes, vice-president of marketing for G.A.P. Adventures.
The incident was reported to have occurred near the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic peninsula called Graham Land, according to Coast Guard reports, at 62 degrees 24 minutes south latitude and 57 degrees 16 minutes west longitude.
"The ship began taking on water, which was managed by the bilge pump of the ship for quite a while, but a distress call was sent out and there were two other ships in the area and the decision was made to evacuate the passengers to lifeboats," Hayes told CTV's Canada AM.
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Updated Fri. Nov. 23 2007 8:25 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link
Ten Canadians are among the passengers rescued from a cruise ship that struck a chunk of ice in Antarctic waters and has now gone down.
All passengers have been rescued safely from the MS Explorer, a cruise ship operated by Toronto-based travel company G.A.P. Adventures.
Ragnar Norum of the Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten, confirmed the ship, which had been listing badly, has now sunk. The passengers and crew have been taken aboard the Nordnorge, a cruise ship owned by Hurtigruten, and are being cared for, he said.
"They have been a little shocked about this, of course, because now the Explorer has sunk," Norum told CTV Newsnet.
"It has sunk, we know it has, but everybody and the crew and the captain and the passengers are on board our ship now."
The Explorer developed a fist-sized hole in its hull after running into ice, said Susan Hayes, vice-president of marketing for G.A.P. Adventures.
The incident was reported to have occurred near the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic peninsula called Graham Land, according to Coast Guard reports, at 62 degrees 24 minutes south latitude and 57 degrees 16 minutes west longitude.
"The ship began taking on water, which was managed by the bilge pump of the ship for quite a while, but a distress call was sent out and there were two other ships in the area and the decision was made to evacuate the passengers to lifeboats," Hayes told CTV's Canada AM.
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