M/S Explorer sinks

The M/S Explorer, the famous Little Red Ship, struck ice in the waters off Antarctica, near the South Shetland Islands, on Nov. 23, 2007, and subsequently sank. The 154 passengers and crew were safely evacuated to lifeboats and picked up within five hours by the cruise ship MS Nordnorge. GAP Adventures was running the cruise and arranged for passengers’ flights home. 

The Explorer was built for Lindblad Expeditions in 1969 as the world’s first expeditionary passenger ship. It had an ice-hardened double hull; nevertheless, ice punched a fist-sized hole and left a crack that crews were not able to seal off.

Concerns were raised about pollution from the ship’s fuel oil on board as well as about the issue of cruise ships visiting Antarctica at all.