Arctic cruises prompt fears of ‘Titanic-style disaster’
Shipping experts are warning there could be a ‘Titanic-style disaster’ if more cruise companies start sailing in some of the most remote parts of the Arctic.
The warning follows the success of Crystal Cruises’ first remote Northwest Passage sailing this summer, which the company has said it plans to repeat.
In August, 1,700 passengers boarded Crystal Serenity for a month-long cruise from Anchorage in Alaska, along the northern coast of North America, to New York.
The ship followed the route first navigated by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1903.
Two shipping executives fear a disaster unless controls are brought in to protect passengers and the environment, according to Sky News.
It reports Tero Vauraste, boss of Finnish shipping firm Arctia, warns there would be little authorities could do if a ship got into distress in the region, due to the lack of infrastructure.
"The Northwest Passage is thousands and thousands of nautical miles with absolutely nothing," he said.
"Navigation in icy waters is made more difficult by poor satellite imagery. An ice field might move at a speed of 4-5 knots, but a ship will receive a satellite picture of it that is 10-20 hours old."
Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of Hurtigruten, said there must be tighter regulations to avoid damage to the environment.
"An accident involving a mega-ship could represent an environmental disaster," he said.
A United Nations Polar Code will come into effect in 2017 which toughens demands on ship safety and pollution.
It bans heavy fuel oil in the Antarctic region, but in the Arctic it merely encourages ships not to use it, Sky added.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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