VIDEO: A large wave slammed into an Antarctic cruise ship with 88 American passengers and 77 crew members aboard, but the ship’s crew overcame minor damage and was heading safely back to its scheduled port on Wednesday.
Clelia II Incident
Clelia II had just departed from the Antarctic and was headed for port in Ushuaia, Argentina, 500 miles to the north.
Clelia II, an Antarctic expedition cruise ship operated by Polar Cruises, lost an engine and communications equipment in rough weather in Antarctic waters. The video was filmed by passengers on the National Geographic Explorer. Video courtesy Fiona Stewart / Garett McIntosh (via jonbowermaster.com)
Without power,the luxury ship Clelia II, floundered in 30-foot seas.
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most pristine, dramatic and beautiful places on the planet, but the Drake Passage is one of the most dangerous waterways in the world.
The Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces -Sea of “de Hoces”- is the body of water between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean. The passage is named after the 16th century English privateer Sir Francis Drake.
View Strange World in a larger map
When the water isn’t rough, ships in the passage are often good platforms for the sighting of whales, dolphins and plentiful seabirds including giant petrels, other petrels, albatrosses and penguins.
Clelia II, an Antarctic expedition cruise ship operated by Polar Cruises, lost an engine rough weather in Antarctic waters. The vVideo was filmed by passengers on the National Geographic Explorer. Video courtesy Fiona Stewart / Garett McIntosh (via jonbowermaster.com)
See also …
National Geographic Explorer — expeditions.com/ngexplorer/