GAP Adventures‘ Explorer has been abandoned after hitting a piece of floating ice in the Antarctic Ocean, causing a breach in the hull. The ship began sinking and all 100 passengers and 54 crew have been evacuated. The passengers are now on board Hurtigruten’s Nordnorge.
Built in 1969 as Lindblad Explorer for Lindblad Expeditions, this was the first purpose-built expedition cruise ship and pioneered modern expedition cruising, including in Antarctica. She became Society Explorer for the now-defunct Society Expeditions in 1985. She was renamed Explorer in 1992 and operated for Abercrombie & Kent before passing to GAP in 2004.
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A good photo gallery can be found here from Guardian Unlimited. You can also see photos from the Nordnorge’s web cam here.
UPDATE 24 NOVEMBER: GAP Adventures confirms that Explorer sank at 1900 GMT yesterday, 23 November 2007.
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