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SANTIAGO: A cruise liner hit an iceberg off Antarctica on Friday and other ships rushed to rescue more than 150 people who took to the freezing seas in lifeboats, officials said.
The 100 passengers and most of the 54 crew from the MS Explorer were picked up safely after the Titanic-style accident near the South Shetland Islands, officials from international coastguard and navy services said.
The captain and another senior officer stayed on board the Liberian-registered Explorer but it was not immediately known if it was sinking, the officials said. But problems with the ship's safety record were immediately highlighted.
Susan Hayes, vice president of marketing for Gap Adventures, which ran the tour, said the rescued passengers and crew were transferred to another ship which is in the area. "Everyone is safe and accounted for at this point," she told CNN television.
The 2,400 tonne Explorer began taking in water after it struck ice, she said. Although its pumps were managing the water, a decision was made to evacuate the passengers into life boats, she added.
A Chilean navy captain, Rodrigo Vattuone, told CNN a distress signal was raised at 12:54 am local time (0354 GMT). The ship was near King George Island, where Chile has its Teniente Marsh base.
The Chilean icebreaker Oscar Viel was on its way to the ship to help the rescue operation, Vattuone said.
The accident and ensuing operation was monitored by coast guard services in several countries.
A British coastguard spokesman, Fred Caygill, said another cruise liner, the Endeavour had taken on passengers. "All persons are accounted for," he told Britain's Sky News television.
The owners of a Norwegian vessel, the MS Nordnorge, said it had also taken on a large number. Stein Lillebo, spokesman for Hurtigruten, owners of the Nordnorge, told AFP only the officers from the Explorer were still on board the stricken ship.
"It's too early to say at this stage whether it will actually sink...but it is taking some ingress of water," Caygill said. Another spokesman earlier said the ship was listing at 25 degrees.
Weather in the area is relatively good, with the Antarctic heading from late spring into summer. The average temperature is about minus five degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit), Caygill said.
Cruise ships regularly take passengers to the remote region to view icebergs and other Antarctic natural features at this time of year.
But the specialist Lloyds List maritime publication said the Explorer had five "deficiencies" at its last inspection including problems with a watertight door.
The ship also had lifeboat maintenance problems and missing search and rescue plans, according to a report on Lloyds' website.
Watertight doors were described as "not as required," and the fire safety measures were also criticized, it said, citing an inspection done by Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency in May this year.
Chilean port inspectors also found six deficiencies during an inspection in Puerto Natales in March, including two related to navigation matters, it said.
In August, 17 British tourists and a Russian sailor were injured when a cruise ship, the Aleksey Maryshev, was hit by falling pieces of ice in the Arctic.
It was carrying nearly 50 passengers and 19 crew members at the time.
- AFP/so
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