Ice thwarts Antarctic tour
Door: John Henzell
Blijf op de hoogte en volg André & Manita
31 December 2007 | Nieuw Zeeland, Wellington
Saturday, 02 February 2008
An ice-strengthened Antarctic tour ship attempting to re-enact Ernest Shackleton's expedition a century ago has failed to even reach the continent because of "crazy" ice conditions blocking its path.
The Spirit of Enderby, run by Christchurch-based Heritage Expeditions, was themed around Shackleton's journey and left Lyttelton exactly 100 years to the day after Shackleton's team left on the Nimrod, with passengers paying about $20,000 to be on board the centenary expedition.
However, where Shackleton set a record, building a hut near where Scott Base is now sited then pulling a sled to within 180km of the South Pole, freak pack-ice conditions blocked the Spirit of Enderby from reaching even the northernmost part of Antarctica in the Ross Sea, nearly 1000km north of Scott Base.
Heritage Expeditions owner Rodney Russ said it was the first time in 33 expeditions to Antarctica that they had failed to reach the continent.
They had made a determined effort to get through up to 800km of pack ice, using satellite images of the floes, but had to turn around because of safety concerns.
Heritage Expeditions is not the only ship to have trouble with the pack ice. The resupply ships for the New Zealand and United States Antarctic programmes have also struggled, with the fuel tanker, the Lawrence H. Gianella, getting stuck in the pack ice and having to be rescued by a Swedish icebreaker, the Oden, that had created a shipping lane through to McMurdo Station, near Scott Base.
The extra journey is reported to have left the Oden without enough fuel to get home and more fuel is being brought down on a cargo ship, the American Tern, which left Lyttelton last week with supplies to see Scott Base and McMurdo Station through the winter.
Russ said the freakish conditions had been demonstrated by comparing their journey with Shackleton's trip, on a much smaller wooden ship 100 years earlier.
"We had (his) diary and we went through on exactly the same date," he said.
"He didn't push any ice and sailed around icebergs. We thought it would be no different but we've had 400 to 500 miles (650km to 800km) of ice.
"It's just a crazy situation where a whole lot of ice that traditionally is long gone is just sitting there.
"We tried for three or four days and were about half way through, then we had to give it away. The captain had the hardest decision of his life, but it was a safety issue.
"There was another passenger ship behind us that didn't even attempt to go into the ice."
An ice-strengthened Antarctic tour ship attempting to re-enact Ernest Shackleton's expedition a century ago has failed to even reach the continent because of "crazy" ice conditions blocking its path.
The Spirit of Enderby, run by Christchurch-based Heritage Expeditions, was themed around Shackleton's journey and left Lyttelton exactly 100 years to the day after Shackleton's team left on the Nimrod, with passengers paying about $20,000 to be on board the centenary expedition.
However, where Shackleton set a record, building a hut near where Scott Base is now sited then pulling a sled to within 180km of the South Pole, freak pack-ice conditions blocked the Spirit of Enderby from reaching even the northernmost part of Antarctica in the Ross Sea, nearly 1000km north of Scott Base.
Heritage Expeditions owner Rodney Russ said it was the first time in 33 expeditions to Antarctica that they had failed to reach the continent.
They had made a determined effort to get through up to 800km of pack ice, using satellite images of the floes, but had to turn around because of safety concerns.
Heritage Expeditions is not the only ship to have trouble with the pack ice. The resupply ships for the New Zealand and United States Antarctic programmes have also struggled, with the fuel tanker, the Lawrence H. Gianella, getting stuck in the pack ice and having to be rescued by a Swedish icebreaker, the Oden, that had created a shipping lane through to McMurdo Station, near Scott Base.
The extra journey is reported to have left the Oden without enough fuel to get home and more fuel is being brought down on a cargo ship, the American Tern, which left Lyttelton last week with supplies to see Scott Base and McMurdo Station through the winter.
Russ said the freakish conditions had been demonstrated by comparing their journey with Shackleton's trip, on a much smaller wooden ship 100 years earlier.
"We had (his) diary and we went through on exactly the same date," he said.
"He didn't push any ice and sailed around icebergs. We thought it would be no different but we've had 400 to 500 miles (650km to 800km) of ice.
"It's just a crazy situation where a whole lot of ice that traditionally is long gone is just sitting there.
"We tried for three or four days and were about half way through, then we had to give it away. The captain had the hardest decision of his life, but it was a safety issue.
"There was another passenger ship behind us that didn't even attempt to go into the ice."
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