Cruise Ship Grounding Sends Warning, Says Falklands Conservation Manager

The grounding of a cruise liner in Antarctic waters on Wednesday appears to have been handled without damage either to the environment or to passengers, according to Grant Munro, Manager of the Falkland Islands non-governmental organization, Falklands Conservation, which is an associate member of the International Association of Antarctic Cruise Organizations ( IAATO).

Mr. Munro said that reports from IAATO agreed with those coming from other agencies that the accident to the Norwegian cruise liner, Nordkapp, which happened near Deception Island in the South Shetlands a few days ago, had been relatively minor.

Although it was feared that some damage had been caused to the ice-strengthened vessel’s outer skin, when it touched bottom, the vessel had soon re-floated without taking on water or leaking any oil.

Were a similar accident to happen to a much larger ship, it is clear that the recovery of this number of people would be very difficult and the potential for environmental damage much increased, given the quantity of fuel carried by such a large ship.