| | | | Cruise Ship to Dare the North West Passage
Eric Worrall / 6 hours ago March 30, 2016
 Crystal Serenity, By bert76 07:28, 29 August 2006 (UTC) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1108921
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The North West passage is an infamous graveyard of ships, where the weather can turn deadly without warning, and floating ice is an ever-present peril. But this arctic track record of disaster is not deterring the owners of the Crystal Serenity, and passengers reportedly paying a staggering $22,000 + per berth, from attempting a daring journey from Alaska to New York starting on August 16th this year.
A new Titanic? US and Canada prepare for worst as luxury Arctic cruise sets sail
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The loss of Arctic sea ice cover, due to climate change, has spurred a sharp rise in shipping traffic – as well as coast guard rescue missions – and increased the risks of oil spills, shipping accidents, and pollution, much to the apprehension of native communities who make their living on the ice.
It’s into these turbulent waters that the luxury cruise ship Crystal Serenity will set sail next August, departing from Seward, Alaska, and transiting the Bering Strait and Northwest Passage, before docking in New York City 32 days later.
The scale of the Crystal – 1,700 passengers and crew – and the potential for higher-volume traffic in the Arctic has commanded the attention of the coast guard, government officials and local communities, all trying to navigate an Arctic without year-round ice.
“If something were to go wrong it would be very, very bad,” said Richard Beneville, the mayor of the coastal town of Nome, which the Crystal is due to visit. “Most cruise ships that get here have passenger manifests of 100, maybe 150. This is a very different ship.”
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Prices for the journey aboard the 14-deck luxury liner start at nearly $22,000 rising to $120,000 for a deluxe stateroom – and this year’s cruise is sold out, according to the company.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/28/us-canada-arctic-cruise-ship-titanic-emergency-training-coast-guard
You know what? I wish I had a berth. I can completely understand why the ship is fully booked, despite the risk. The Arctic is beautiful, and utterly alien, compared to more temperate regions. I only visited the Arctic once in my life, a week in Bodø in April. The snow covered mountains, the familiar seaside sights, mixed with the utterly unfamiliar, the sun which hangs just above the horizon for 18 hours, before dipping into a brief twilight, the people, the strange landscape. I would love to see places like Nome, one of the stops on the planned route.
If it all ends badly, as seems a real possibility, at least everyone is embarking on this adventure with their eyes open – unlike the ridiculous ship of fools, the Crystal Serenity owners appear to be taking the safety of the passengers seriously.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/03/30/cruise-ship-to-dare-the-north-west-passage/
jbenton2013 says:
March 30, 2016 at 3:05 am
This ship is being escorted by an ice breaker, so it appears even the owners have some concerns over the journey.
markstoval says:
March 30, 2016 at 3:31 am
What does this prove anyway? They have an ice breaker to clear the way, and with that load of rich people on board any trouble will come with scores of helicopters to the rescue.
Are they trying to prove that in this “Warmest time Ever” that we can do what was done in the past?
Don K says:
March 30, 2016 at 4:50 am
I imagine that the Canadians and their insurance companies told them that they HAVE to have an icebreaker along. Think about the problems with potentially having to rescue many hundreds of people in a remote area with basically no infrastructure and the potential for nasty weather even in August.
If you ask me (and no one will) this is a likely truly stupid idea. Running a SMALL cruise vessel through the region every year for a decade or so to get some experience might make sense. … maybe … But 1700 people?
From the wikipedia article on the trans-Alaska pipeline
“In 1969, Humble Oil and Refining Company sent a specially fitted oil tanker, the SS Manhattan, to test the feasibility of transporting oil via ice-breaking tankers to market.[16] The Manhattan was fitted with an ice-breaking bow, powerful engines, and hardened propellers before successfully traveling the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Beaufort Sea. During the voyage, the ship suffered damage to several of its cargo holds, which flooded with seawater. Wind-blown ice forced the Manhattan to change its intended route from the M’Clure Strait to the smaller Prince of Wales Strait. It was escorted back through the Northwest Passage by a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, the CCGS John A. Macdonald. Although the Manhattan successfully transited the Northwest Passage again in the summer of 1970, the concept was considered too risky.”
Philip Berkin says:
March 30, 2016 at 3:14 am
For information, recent successful, single season transits for vessels of all sizes of the NWP have been as follows:
2007, 5
2008, 8
2009, 13
2010, 12
2011, 14
2012, 20
2013, 19
2014, 10
2015, 13
http://www.americanpolar.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/NWP-2015.pdf
Richard A. O'Keefe says:
March 30, 2016 at 3:33 am
Air New Zealand used to run tourist flights to Antarctica. No landings, just fly over it. Ended with the Mt Erebus disaster. Terry Pratchett coined the phrase “réja vu”: I am going to have seen this again. Me, I’m a *real* Eco-tourist: I don’t go.
[ Air New Zealand Flight 901 was a scheduled sightseeing service from Auckland Airport in New Zealand to Antarctica and return with a scheduled stop at Christchurch Airport to refuel before returning to Auckland. [22] The Air New Zealand flyover service, for the purposes of Antarctic sightseeing, was operated with McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft and began in February 1977. The flight crashed into Mount Erebus in whiteout conditions on November 28, 1979, killing all 257 people aboard. Further investigation of the crash shows an Air New Zealand navigational error and a cover-up that resulted in about $100 million in lawsuits. Air New Zealand discontinued its flyovers of Antarctica. Its final flight was in February 17, 1980. During the Antarctic summer, snow melt on the flanks of Mount Erebus continually reveals debris from the crash; it is plainly visible from the air. [22] ]
commieBob says:
March 30, 2016 at 7:03 am
When I was a pup and spent time in the arctic, we spent a lot of time listening to the short wave pleadings of arctic adventurers who got into all kinds of trouble. They, and their friends, may have thought they were heros; we had another opinion.
The Canadian Government doesn’t have many heavy icebreakers. None of them are remotely capable of handling 1700 souls for more than a few hours. They have heads (washrooms) and food handling for a crew of about 50. That means the survivors might be better off in their lifeboats. I’m guessing that there might be about 20 helicopters scattered around the Canadian arctic. It would take them hours to get to the scene. A landing strip could be built if the ice were thick enough. Fuel for the helicopters could be tankered in by DC-3 or Twin Otter. If the survivors were ferried to somewhere like Resolute the facilities there would be strained. The available aircraft are mostly used for freight, they don’t have many seats. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a hundred trips. It wouldn’t take much to turn the situation into a logistical nightmare. |
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