VARIOUS: Plane takes off to rescue shipwrecked passengers in Antarctica as environmental concerns grow

A Chilean Air Force plane took off on Saturday (November 24) to rescue shipwrecked passengers stuck in the barracks on Antarctic bases one day after their cruise ship struck ice and sank in Antarctic waters as concern grows over the environmental impact of the accident. More than 150 crew and passengers-- Americans, British, Canadians, Australians, Dutch, Japanese, Argentines and other nationalities-- were on a cruise ship called the Explorer, owned by Canadian travel company G.A.P. Adventures, which took on water after hitting ice off King George Island in Antarctica on Friday. A Norwegian passenger boat in the area picked up all of the passengers and crew from lifeboats they used to flee the ship which sank hours later. They spent the day at a Chilean Air Force base on Antarctica where they were doing well, according to a Chilean official. "The evacuated passengers spent the night well. They are in better spirits than they were yesterday. Many of them even went out to see the Frei Base installations during these hours before they are returned to Punta Arenas," said Punta Arenas Intendant Eugenia Mancilla. "Our Hercules C130 from Punta Arenas has already taken off. It has an estimated two and a half hours of flight to get here to Frei Base," said Chilean Air Force Commander Raul Jorquera from Eduardo Frei Base in Antarctica, where the passengers and crew are awaiting rescue. The passengers and crew were transported to Chile's Eduardo Frei base in the Antarctic from where they will be flown to Punta Arenas, Chile. British Consul John Rees said preparations were being made for their arrival. "We will meet the passengers this evening at the airport as soon as they arrive. Hotel reservations have been made and the ship's agent is looking into airline reservations and so on, and, of course, medical care if necessary," Rees told reporters. King George Island lies about 700 miles (1,127 km) south of Cape Horn, the tip of South America, and is the largest of the South Shetland islands. Chilean Senator Guido Girardi expressed his concern that the event trigger an oil leak. "What we want is to ask the navy to monitor, keep close watch on the place where the ship sank so that when the oil appears, there is enough time to set up a system of barriers and extract that very viscous, heavy oil, product of the low temperatures," he said. Chilean Navy Lieutenant Italo Solari assured reporters that the navy was keeping a close watch on the situation. "The truth is that (oil leak) is under observation because, once a ship sinks, it is estimated that there could be some type of increase in the amount of oil emitted," he said. The shipwrecked tourists and crew were expected to begin arriving in Punta Arenas, Chile on Saturday evening. The passengers paid about $8,000 (4,000 pounds) a cabin for the two-week cruises around the Antarctic.

ITN Source | November 25, 2007

Tags:. .spirits. .expressed. .yesterday. .ships. .installations