New Zealand yesterday called for tighter controls on “inadequately regulated” shipping in the Southern Ocean, after a cruise liner ran aground off Antarctica.
Although no one was hurt on board the Ocean Nova, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the accident highlighted the need for action before there was a disaster in the area.
It was the fourth accident involving a passenger ship in Antarctica in just over a year.
The number of people cruising in Antarctic waters has quadrupled in the past 15 years to 46,000 last year, which has resulted in visits from bigger tourist ships that are not suited to the conditions, McCully said.
“If nothing is done, it will be only a matter of time before there is a disaster in the Southern Ocean,” he said, while announcing a conference in New Zealand later this year on ship-borne tourism in the Antarctic region.
“The focus will be on how to prevent a major maritime accident, and how to put controls around what is a rapidly expanding but currently inadequately regulated industry,” he said.
“Tourist ships pose a significant risk not only to human life, but also to a pristine, fragile environment,” he said.
McCully said the cruise industry had to realize the Southern Ocean was “a remote, inhospitable and dangerous place for tourist vessels” and difficult for search and rescue services to reach.
Representatives from the 47 countries that are party to the Antarctic Treaty, along with delegates from the tourism industry and non-governmental organizations will attend the conference.
The 65 passengers and 41 crew members on board the Ocean Nova have been safely transferred to another ship, the Clipper Adventure, the operator and Argentine navy said on Wednesday.
The Clipper Adventure will return to Ushuaia, Argentina’s southernmost city and the original jumping-off point for the 15-day voyage exploring the polar circle.
The Ocean Nova ran aground earlier on Tuesday morning amid high winds, but was unable to break free during the rising evening tide as officials had hoped. The passengers were more than a week into their 15-day voyage exploring the polar circle.
Quark Expeditions said “continuing high winds thwarted the attempt to dislodge” the ship on Wednesday afternoon.
But several hours after the passengers were rescued, the late evening tide lifted the Ocean Nova away from the rocky shore. An inspection by divers showed no damage or leaking, so the ship will host a separate 20-day expedition of the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands beginning on Saturday, the operator said.
The incident was the fourth accident involving a passenger ship in Antarctica in just over a year.
Last December, an Argentine-run vessel, Ciudad de Ushuaia, ran aground. The Chilean navy rescued its 89 passengers.
The previous December, a Norwegian-run liner, Fram, drifted with 256 passengers on board after its engines failed.
A month earlier, the ship Explorer hit an iceberg and sank. The 154 people on board were rescued.
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
US ELECTION: Polls show that the result is likely to be historically tight. However, a recent Iowa poll showed Harris winning the state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on election day today. Trump predicted a “landslide,” while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that “we have momentum — it’s
TIGHT CAMPAIGN: Although Harris got a boost from an Iowa poll, neither candidate had a margin greater than three points in any of the US’ seven battleground states US Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the final days before the election, as she and former US president and Republican presidential nominees make a frantic last push to win over voters in a historically close campaign. The first lines Harris spoke as she sat across from Maya Rudolph, their outfits identical, was drowned out by cheers from the audience. “It is nice to see you Kamala,” Harris told Rudolph with a broad grin she kept throughout the sketch. “And I’m just here to remind you, you got this.” In sync, the two said supporters
Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs. Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different. The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given
RSS