Antarctic cruises under threat
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Cruise lines are preparing to abandon the Antarctic rather than comply with an international agreement to use greener fuels in southern waters.
A number of cruise operators have already dropped Antarctica from their brochures and more are likely to follow when changes to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol) comes into force in 2011.
Currently, cruise ships visiting Antarctica need only use the more expensive marine gas oil when sailing south of 60 degrees. The new law forces them to use the greener fuel for the entire round trip, adding tens of thousands of dollars to their costs.
Saga, Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery have responded by abandoning the region, while Hurtigruten has cut its Antarctic fleet from two ships to one.
It’s not just environmental restrictions dictating the cruise lines’ change in course. The rapid loss of the huge Wilkins Ice Shelf, as a result of global warming, is causing a sharp increase in iceberg numbers in the South Atlantic, making these already hazardous waters even more perilous, especially for cruise ships that weren’t designed for use in Antarctic waters.
At the end of last month, about 270 square miles of ice broke away from the ice shelf, calving into tens of thousands of icebergs and hard-to-see growlers.
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