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NEWS
Brief news items on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic non-government expedition activities.
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Dispatched on Wednesday, 12 April 2000 @ 0600 UTC.
News in this edition:
19-01. London Meeting to Consider Antarctic Ship Code Development.
19-02. No Antarctic Visit for 'Rotterdam' in 2000-01.
19-03. Weather, Ice Conditions, Maximise 'Rotterdam' Experience.
19-04. Lone Rower Forced to Abandon sub-Antarctic Trans Ocean Attempt.
19-05. Next Phase of Shackleton Filming Program Underway.
19-06. Individual Ascents of Vinson Massif Near 500 mark.
19-07. Canadian Pair Seeking Sponsorship for Trans-Antarctic Crossing.
19-08. Greenpeace, Whaling Fleet, End Their Antarctic Seasons.
19-09. QML Reconnaissance Identifies Route for Proposed Holtanna Climb.
19-10. Pole to Pole group commence their journey.
19-11. New Antarctic Book Looks at Tourism Issues.
19-12. Coming events relevant to non-government activities.
IN READING PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter is being produced in the interest of improved information sharing in the Antarctic community. Inclusion of information in it should not be taken to imply endorsement, by the publishers of ANAN, of any company, program or associated activity that is listed, nor that the activity has necessarily completed all environmental impact assessments required under the legislation of the 'home' nation.
Experts from Antarctic Treaty nations and other groups are to meet in the United Kingdom next week to discuss the development of guidelines for ships and related operations in Antarctic waters. While they will probably be non-binding, if agreed the standards are likely to apply to all vessels greater than 500 gross registered tonnes, and the London meeting is therefore directly relevant to future non-government, as well as government, shipping activities in the region.
The aim of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) in developing the guidelines is to raise ship safety standards in order to minimise the chances of serious incidents occuring at sea in the Antarctic region, as well as the associated environmental damage that can often flow from such events. The ATS intends to do this by establishing standards so that ships used in support of Antarctic operations are well found, are appropriately equipped and maintained, and that their crews are adequately trained for work in what is still a hazardous operational environment.
Since the Antarctic Treaty came into force forty years ago, several thousand voyages by ships have been made into the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. In that time less than ten ships have sunk in the region, however there have been numerous accidents or dangerous incidents, many of which were caused by human error. National program vessels have been involved in the majority of incidents reported since the 1960s, although non-government craft have not been immune to problems.
With the exception of fishing vessels which mainly operate in the sub-Antarctic, non-government ships make up just under one-third of all present-day vessels in the Antarctic, the majority conducting tourist operations. While they are in a minority numerically, non-government vessels undertake more voyages, visit more locations, especially coastal ones, and carry more people to the Antarctic each year than do those involved in national program operations. On the other hand national program vessels often carry a greater range of potential pollutants, most particularly when they are conducting station resupply operations.
Given that they have undertaken around two-thirds of all Antarctic voyages in recent years, tourist vessels have a good safety record, although they have been involved in a number of incidents, including groundings, and have experienced difficulties and damage inflicted by ice (ANAN-14/03, 2 February 2000 and ANAN-3/02, 1 September 1999). Only one non-government ship, the 47 m 'Southern Quest', has been lost, it being crushed by pack ice in the Ross Sea in January 1986 while supporting a small non-government expedition.
No vessels operated by tour companies have been lost in Antarctica or the sub-Antarctic since such operations commenced in the 1960s. Last season however three non ice strengthened vessels capable of carrying 400-600 and up to 1000 passengers operated in waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. There has been wide concern in the Antarctic community about the potential for problems to occur with this type of operation, coupled with speculation that this activity could increase (ANAN-17/01, 15 March 2000 and 19/03 following). Vessels of this type operate in certain areas of the Arctic however and some issues related to their operation in Antarctica are therefore not clear cut.
A range of existing international instruments already govern some aspects of ship operations in Antarctic waters including MARPOL (for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships), SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), UNCLOS (Law of the Sea), and Antarctic Treaty agreements such as the Madrid Protocol. While it will need to take into account existing agreements, the London meeting is expected to focus on the ships as an operational package, looking at issues related to the design, construction, manning, operation and equipping of vessels, as well as ice conditions.
Also under consideration will be the latest draft of the Arctic shipping guidelines being developed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the world body that develops and coordinates merchant vessel standards. The IMO Arctic document will be scrutinised at the London meeting to determine which aspects of it can be used in any future set of guidelines for the Antarctic. IMO commenced formal discussions on developing this 'Polar Code' in 1993 following concerns about the increasing level of shipping activity in the Arctic and the number of incidents that were occuring there.
Originally this Code was seen as covering both the Arctic and Antarctic, however there have been difficulties in developing a common system, primarily due to the range of geographic and administrative differences between the two regions.
A wide range of representatives are expected to take part in next week's meeting. Antarctic and marine safety experts from Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties will make up the bulk of attendees, and COMNAP (the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs) and SCAR (the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) will also provide delegates. Others invited include IMO, the International Hydrographic Organisation, World Meterological Organisation, International Association of Classification Societies, International Association of Protection and Indemnity Clubs, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, and the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO).
IAATO affiliates operate almost all of the tour ships which visit the Antarctic region, and excluding fishing vessels its members run almost all of the non-government ships that operate there each southern summer. While IAATO ships predominate, last season a record number of tour ships operated by companies who are not members of the tour body also visited the region. They have all indicated their operations would be governed by IAATO requirements however (ANAN-1/04, 4 August 1999). Up to ten people, including several experienced Masters, are expected to take part in the London meeting as part of the IAATO delegation.
The London Meeting of Experts is required by a decision of last year's Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM-23) to report on its deliberations at the next ATCM (ATCM-24). If guidelines are agreed at a future ATCM, the Antarctic body's intention is to seek world-wide adoption of them via the IMO. This reflects concern amongst Treaty Parties at the increasing number of vessels visiting the region who are registered in one of the over 100 nations who are outside the ATS. The majority of those vessels are involved in non-government operations.
ATCM-24 will not be held until sometime next year and given the processes involved it seems likely that it will be several years before any guidelines developed could be approved by both the ATS and IMO systems.
[ANAN-19/01]
U.S. based company Holland America Line-Westours (HALW) is not planning to send its 1,600 passenger capacity flag ship 'Rotterdam' to Antarctica in 2000-01, however the return of the ship to the region sometime in the future has not been ruled out. While no landings were made 'Rotterdam', which is not ice strengthened and is thus limited to moving in relatively ice free water, set a new record for vessels who have visited Antarctica last January when she carried 970 passengers and 670 crew on a two day cruise along the north-west Antarctic Peninsula (ANAN-19/03 following and ANAN-13/01,19 January 2000).
There has been considerable speculation and some concern about HALW's intentions regarding future visits by its ships to Antarctica since early last year. While feedback from 'Rotterdam' passengers last January was apparently positive, as it now stands 'big ship' operations in Antarctic waters in 2000-01 are likely to involve only the 400-plus passenger vessels 'Ocean Explorer I' and 'Marco Polo'. Between them they are expected to carry around 2700 tourists the Peninsula region over a six week period from late December.
'Ocean Explorer I' which is operated by the World Cruise Company of Canada and visited Antarctica for the first time last season (ANAN-17/07, 15 March 2000), is to operate in the area around the South Shetland Islands for two days over New Year as part of a 104 day, around the world voyage. She is expected to call at Stanley in the Falkland Islands on 28 December en route south, however her operations and landings in Antarctic are expected to be limited to the South Shetlands as she is not ice strengthened (ANAN-11/04, 22 December 1999). At the present time there appear to be no plans to undertake passenger transfers in the region as occured last season however (ANAN-17/07, 15 March 2000).
U.S. based Orient Lines vessel 'Marco Polo' is advertised as conducting five, 8-12 day, voyages to the Antarctic Peninsula region from Argentinian ports between late-December and mid-February, travelling as far south as the Lemaire Channel and making landings at a number of places. 'Marco Polo', which is ice strengthened, has operated in Antarctica since 1994, however in 2000-01 it will not undertake a semi-circumnavigation voyage from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Sea as in the past (ANAN-13/02, 19 January 2000). Like 'Ocean Explorer' she too plans to call at Stanley in Falkland Islands, her visit currently being scheduled for 2-3 January.
HALW's 55,451 gross tonnage vessel 'Ryndam' is scheduled to visit Punta Arenas, Chile, and Ushuaia, Argentina, on a voyage around South America in late December and January, however no visits south of there are on her itinerary. During her visit to Punta Arenas just before New Year however, a number of day excursions are being offered to passengers, including an overflight of the Antarctic Peninsula area in a Boeing 737 provided weather conditions are suitable (ANAN-13/01, 19 January 2000). These overflight operations are offered to passengers on the many non-Antarctic cruise vessels which pass through Punta Arenas on cruise to the fjords of Chile each southern summer (ANAN-5/02, 29 September 1999).
'Ryndam', which can carry up to 1266 passengers and a crew of 600, is to visit Stanley in the Falkland Islands on her way northwards. At least three 'big ships' are thus scheduled to visit Stanley in th space of a few weeks, some 2000 people potentially going ashore there to add to almost daily visits expected in 2000-01 by smaller Antarctic expedition tour vessels.
[ANAN-19/02]
Generally good weather and favourable ice conditions allowed the 970 passengers on board the cruise ship 'Rotterdam' to obtain spectacular views of much of the north-western part of the Antarctic Peninsula during the ship's visit to area late last January. The success of the voyage, in particular the positive response by passengers, is thought likely by cruise experts to point to further interest in the region by the ship's operator Holland America Westours in the future, although no operations are scheduled in 2000-01 (ANAN-19/02 proceeding).
The 238 m 'Rotterdam', which is of 62000 gross tonnes, is the largest passenger vessel ever to operate in Antarctic waters. Last season's Antarctic visit was a two-day event within a world cruise which lasted almost four months, and took place on a leg of the journey which started in Valparaiso, Chile, on 20 January, and ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 3 February. The vessel travelled from Valpariso to the Antarctic Peninsula via the Chilean Fjords, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, and Cape Horn.
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'Rotterdam' left Cape Horn at 0800 on 27 January and made very good time across the the Drake Passage in calm, clear weather, arriving off the southern part of Anvers Island just twenty-two hours later.
During the morning of the 28th 'Rotterdam' passed through Schollaert Channel into Gerlache Strait, and negotiated Neumayer Channel, Bismarck Strait and the narrow Lemaire Channel, before reaching her furthest-south at the entrance to Penola Strait. Satellite images captured on 27 January by the ship indicated that very little ice was present in the general area and little was seen en route.
Good weather allowed the passengers to enjoy the spectacular scenery of this area from either the open decks or the ship's large enclosed viewing lounges. Commentary was provided from the bridge during the day by on board lecturer Dr Bernard Stonehouse, head of the Polar Ecology and Management Group at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in the U.K. Other on board lecturers, Captain Lawson Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (retired) who is also at SPRI, and Captain Don Walsh, U.S. Navy (retired), circulated among the passengers with maps and general information during this time.
After reaching Penola Strait the vessel headed northwards and the afternoon of the first day was spent cruising northward up Gerlache Strait and Croker Passage, however the weather gradually deteriorated and visibility became more limited. 'Rotterdam' reached Deception Island in mid evening, passing close by Neptune's Bellows and Baily Head at dusk.
Overnight on 28-29 January the ship cruised slowly up Bransfield Strait, to lay off Argentina's Esperanza station near the tip of the Peninsula by 0600 on 29 January. The weather had improved overnight and conditions were again fine and clear, although large numbers of tabular icebergs prevented entry into Antarctic Sound. That morning was spent cruising off the Peninsula, then the vessel headed northward to the South Orkney Islands which were passed in the late afternoon en route to Buenos Aires.
During the voyage lectures and other presentations were provided to passengers by Stonehouse, Brigham and Walsh and the ship's Ice Master, Captain Patrick Toomey, Canadian Coastguard (retired). A program of lectures and workshops devised by Captain Brigham started when the vessel was in the Chilean fjords on the way south. The ship's 600-seat theatre was reported to have been frequently filled to capacity, although presentations were also relayed to all cabins via cable TV. A permanent display of maps, photographs and information was also available to passengers, and all received copies of Mike Lucas's 1996, 166 page, book 'Antarctica' as background information.
A 'show-of-hands straw poll' of passengers taken on board by Stonehouse indicated that almost all of them found the no-landings cruise 'entirely satisfactory' in itself. About half of those with whom discussions took place said that they were 'likely' to return to Antarctica, while a quarter indicated that they had 'a strong interest' in adventure cruising aboard smaller vessels.
Bernard Stonehouse told ANAN recently that in his view the Antarctic operation was "a safe, carefully-planned and well-executed operation, with well-considered contingency plans, and operational standards relating to environmental protection far exceeding those required in conforming to generally accepted Antarctic guidelines". Stonehouse and Bingham are preparing a formal paper on the operation for publication in a polar journal later this year.
[ANAN-19/03]
LONE ROWER FORCED TO ABANDON
SUB-ANTARCTIC TRANS OCEAN ATTEMPT
Solo traveller Joe Le Guen was forced to abandoned his attempt to row a boat across the sub-Antarctic part of the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Cape Horn on 3 April. Le Guen was just over a third of the way into his planned 8300 km voyage when he was taken on board the container vessel 'Palliser Bay' on medical advice.
The rower, who was subsequently transferred from the ship to a hospital in Punta Arenas, Chile, on 8 April, was said by media reports to be "ill with blood poisoning and possible gangrene from wounds on his feet". Despite this other reports say that he is keen to try the sub-Antarctic crossing again sometime in the future.
Le Guen left Wellington, New Zealand, on 3 February, and headed generally east-south-east over the next seven weeks in often heavy seas and high winds. His speed during that time averaged between one and two knots, about the same as the eastward heading current in these regions. Most of the journey was made between Latitudes 48° and 51° South, with 50°55' being the furthest south. In the week before he was picked up however, the boat had drifted north-eastwards and was close to Latitude 48° South when the 'Palliser Bay' arrived, the container vessel using positions provided by Le Guen's Argos beacon to locate his boat (ANAN-18/01, 29 March 2000).
The boat's name 'Keep it blue' reflects the project's aim of "raising awareness of the need to preserve the oceans". It was built specially for the trans-ocean attempt in France late last year, its only means of propulsion being oars. The craft is nine metres long, just over one and a half metres wide, and has an unloaded weight of 450 Kg. When the rower and his supplies are on board total weight is just over one tonne.
Le Guen was directly affected by the shut down of the Iridium satellite-based telephone service in mid-March, special arrangements having to be made to ensure a 'minimimum guaranteed' telephone service was available (ANAN-18/01, 29 March 2000). It is not clear how long this service would have been maintained had he continued until Cape Horn however.
Two weeks prior to pick up by the 'Palliser Bay', the four crew on the twenty metre yacht 'Kingfisher', which had left New Zealand for France via Cape Horn on 18 March, was asked when several days into its journey to divert to Le Guen's position to deliver equipment to him. The rendevous occured on 23 March, however despite numerous tries the transfer was unsuccessful due to difficult sea and wind conditions, the equipment being lost overboard in the attempt.
'Kingfisher' is on its way to France to compete in the single handed, non-stop, 'Vendee Globe' around-the-world yacht race which will cross sub-Antarctic waters between Africa and South America next December and January (ANAN-7/12, 27 October 1999). 'Kingfisher' has now completed the crossing to Cape Horn, doing so in just seventeen days at an average speed close to eighteen knots. It made a planned rendezvous with the Antarctic yacht 'Pelagic' off south-eastern Chile on 3 April and has now resumed its journey to Europe with only one crew member on board. Construction of 'Kingfisher' and its participation in the 'Vendee Globe' race is reported as costing around $US3M, funding coming from a major European retailer.
[ANAN-19/04]
A further program of filming for two documentaries on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance Expedition commenced around South Georgia last weekend with the arrival there of the expedition ship 'Akademic Shulyekin' on 8 April. 'Shukeykin', not the 'Professor Multanovskiy' as reported in the last edition of this newsletter, is being used to support what is planned as a two week program of activities in the Fortuna, King Haakon and Stromness Bay areas, focus being on Shackleton's 1916 overland route.
Last October-November U.S. film company White Mountain Films (WMF) used the 'Akademic Shulyekin' and a second vessel the 'Laurel' for filming for the project at South Georgia and in the Antarctic Peninsula region (ANAN-9/03, 24 November 1999). Almost two weeks were spent at South Georgia at that time, filming being conducted at Grytviken, Stromness and King Haakon Bay. A 'Squirrel' helicopter carried on board 'Laurel' was used for aerial shots (ANAN-8/03, 10 November 1999).
No helicopters will be used from 'Shulyekin' on the current visit although a WMF film crew of two apparently tried to conduct a program on the island at the end of February using helicopters from the British Navy ship HMS 'Endurance'. Little work appears to have been accomplished however due to poor weather conditions.
This month's program on the island will be assisted by island residents Tim and Pauline Carr as well as Reinhold Messner, Stephan Venables and Conrad Anker. The Carr's assisted the first phase of filming operations on the island late last year.
'Shulyekin', which WMF is chartering from Canada's Marine Expeditions, left Montivideo, Uruguay, on 4 April and is expected to operate around South Georgia until 23 April. She is currently expected to return to Montivideo on 27 April. Reports indicate that current filming activities were always planned and did not result from problems experienced in October-November as suggested previously.
WMF and NOVA, the US Public Broadcasting System's (PBS) science documentary series, are filming two versions of the story of Shackleton's voyage, one a documentary for broadcast on the PBS, and the other a large format forty-minute feature film for exhibition in IMAX® theaters world wide. Release of both films is scheduled for 2001 (ANAN-6/03, 13 October 1999).
[ANAN-19/05]
The number of ascents of 5140 m Vinson Massif, Antarctica's highest mountain, are expected to pass the 500 mark early in the 2000-01 summer season. While the summit was first reached on 18 December 1966, over eighty per cent of the climbs have been undertaken in the past decade, an indication of the increasing scope and pace of adventure tourism in the Antarctic region since 1990.
The majority of those who have climbed the continent's highest peak have done so only once, probably less than forty people having made multiple ascents, they usually being the guides some parties use to take them to the top. In the last half of the 1980s between five and twenty people climbed Vinson each season, but in the 1990s between forty and sixty climbs to the summit were completed in the short eight week summer period. To date the busiest season was in 1997-98 when fifty-seven climbers are believed to have reached their goal in a two month period.
Of the estimated 485 individual ascents made to date, all but about thirty-five have reached Antarctica and been supported once there by U.K. based commericial air operator Adventure Network International (ANI). In fact it was the desire of a party of mountaineers in 1983 to climb Vinson Massif in order become the first to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents, that effectively led to the formation of ANI. Vinson is the sixth of the 'seven summits', the highest being Mount Everest in Asia, and the lowest Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, and is considered as a climb to be relatively straight-forward, although not easy given the high latitude.
While ANI offers a range of activities, including visits to the South Geographic Pole, support for traverse groups (ANAN-9/01, 24 November 1999) and visits to wildlife colonies, the majority of its clients have travelled with it each season with the express aim of climbing the continent's highest peak. Inter-continental flights into Antarctica by ANI from Punta Arenas, Chile, using wheeled 'Hercules' C-130 aircraft, land on the blue ice runway adjacent to the U.K. company's summer field camp at the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land. Vinson Massif is within 200 km of there and ANI's smaller aircraft ferry personnel and supplies to and from the base of the mountain as weather and other project support committments the company has allow. Weather conditions in particular often cause long delays to climbing activities.
As a comparison to Vinson Massif, the on line newsletter 'Expedition News' (EN) carried a wire service report in its April 2000 edition which indicated that 874 climbers have reached the summit of Mount Everest since Hillary and Tenzing made the first ascent almost fifty years ago. The report says that 165 have died while climbing that mountain, 40 of them during their descent from the summit. In comparison only one person has died on Vinson Massif.
One of the few readily available sources of data on mountaineering activities in Antarctica up until the end of the 1997-98 season is Damien Gildea's 1998 publication 'The Antarctic Mountaineering Chronology' (ISBN 0-646-36129-5). There has been a surge of activity in this field over the past two seasons however and many climbers have come to recognise the potential for mountaineering in the Antarctic region (ANAN-17/02, 15 March 2000, ANAN-16/01, 1 March 2000 and ANAN-2/03, 18 August 1999).
[ANAN-19/06]
CANADIAN PAIR SEEKING SPONSORSHIP
FOR TRANS-ANTARCTIC CROSSING
Two Canadians, Laurie Dexter and Scott Smith, are proposing to undertake a man-hauling journey across Antarctica next austral summer in a venture called the Canadian Antarctic Millennial Expedition (TCAME). Negotiations are said to be underway with prospective sponsors and while arrangements have not been finalised several companies are apparently interested in supporting the project.
The 2600 km route Dexter and Smith propose to take is similar to that used by a number of previous crossings by non-government personnel since the first such journey twenty years ago. The trek is planned as commencing in the vicinity of Berkner Island near the head of the Weddell Sea, and from there will cross the Filchner Ice Shelf, climb up the plateau to the South Geographic Pole, then descend to the Ross Ice Shelf for the final leg of the journey to Ross Island in the south-western corner of the Ross Sea.
Departure from Berkner Island is put at the end of October, and if all goes according to plan the SGP would be reached close to New Year's Day, with arrival at Ross Island probably around mid-February. Planned timings from the SGP northwards to Ross Island are similar to those proposed by Liz Arnesen and Ann Bancroft who are also proposing to cross Antarctica to Ross Island via the Pole at around the same time. The Arnesen-Bancroft traverse, which will involve a trek some 400 km longer overall than the Canadians, is to start 1400 km to the west in Queen Maud Land (ANAN-18/05, 29 March 2000 and ANAN-9/07, 24 November 1999).
The Canadians propose to purchase support from commercial air operator Adventure Network International (ANI) for the project. This is expected to involve a flight from Punta Arenas, Chile, to ANI's field camp at the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land, a further flight from there to Berkner Island, search-and-rescue cover during their journey across the continent, and return flights for the pair from Ross Island to Chile via the Patriot Hills. Arrangements will not be able to be made however until sponsorship for the expedition is forthcoming.
According to Dexter and Smith they need in the order of $US500,000 to make the venture viable, a relatively small sum when compared to the $US1.5M media reports have suggested is the target of the Arnesen-Bancroft venture. Air support from ANI is expected to account for eighty per cent of the Canadians' budget, the rest being needed for travel from Canada to Punta Arenas and return, general equipment, and expedition administration.
Laurie Dexter is currently leading the first leg of the 'Pole to Pole 2000' venture (ANAN-19/10 following). He was a member of a Soviet-Canadian team that skied across the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada in 1988. In carrying out the crossing of Antarctica Laurie says that one of his aims is to be the first person to cross both the Arctic basin and Antarctic continent on foot. He undertook a two-week traverse of King George Island in the South Shetlands in December 1997 with Sunniva Sorby, and together with her and one other person crossed the Greenland Ice Sheet last year. Laurie has also worked for a number of seasons in both the Arctic and Antarctic as a ship-based tour guide and lecturer. Scott Smith has considerable remote area experience in many parts of the world, including the Arctic. He too crossed the Greenland Ice Sheet last year but in a different group to Dexter.
[ANAN-19/07]
Vessels from the environmental group Greenpeace and the Japanese Whaling fleet completed their operations in the Antarctic region for the 1999-2000 season when they returned to port almost simultaneously last week.
The 'Arctic Sunrise', one of the ships operated by the environmental group Greenpeace, arrived at Mauritius in the south-western Indian Ocean on 3 April after a fifty-one day voyage whose focus was on illegal fishing activities in the sub-Antarctic. 'Sunrise' left Fremantle in Western Australia on 12 February and during the voyage spent most of her time operating in the vicinity of Heard Island and Kerguelen (ANAN-18/07, 29 March 2000). During her first voyage of the season late last year she was involved in an anti-whaling campaign in the area north of Enderby Land, spending a month harassing a Japanese whaling fleet which was operational in the region (ANAN-14/08, 2 February 2000).
The four-ship whaling fleet returned to the Japanese port of Shimonoseki late last week after a five and a half month voyage to the Indian Ocean sector of the Antarctic south-west of Australia (ANAN-11/16, 22 December 1999). Media reports indicate that a total of 439 Minke whales were taken this season, fifty more than in 1998-99. The permit issued by the Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for the 1999-2000 operation states that the vessels can catch up to 400 Minke whales, but goes on to say that up to 440 of this species can be taken if it is necessary 'for research purposes' (ANAN-9/06, 24 November 1999).
The fleet consisted of the factory ship 'Nishin Maru' of 7,575 gross tonnes, and three catcher ships with a gross tonnage of between 720 and 812 tonnes. If the pattern of activity of the fleet in Antarctic waters over the last few years continues, its operations in 2000-01 are likely to be in the Ross Sea region.
[ANAN-19/08]
QML RECONNAISSANCE IDENTIFIES
ROUTE FOR PROPOSED HOLTANNA CLIMB
A reconnaisance of the Orvin Mountains area of Queen Maud Land (QML) last January has identified the route and techniques to be used by an international group of mountaineers who are proposing to climb 2650 m Holtanna Peak during the 2000-01 southern summer. Holtanna, which in Norwegian means 'the hollow tooth', is considered by experienced mountaineers to be in the very hard category, with the climb involving ascent of an almost sheer wall of difficult rock with some 'interesting' overhangs that rises some 800 m above the surrounding ice.
A considerable amount of mountaineering activity has been undertaken in the QML region in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and again in the last few years, virtually all of it supported by commercial air operator Adventure Network International (ANI). Last season's reconnaissance was carried out by Belgian Alain Hubert and Frenchman Daniel Mercier who travelled to, and were supported in, Antarctica, by ANI. ANI's new Basler 67 aircraft (ANAN-1/06, 4 August 1999) was used to deploy the group in QML and return them to its Patriot Hills field camp.
Holtanna lies about 50 km south-south-east of the 'Blue 1' blue ice runway ANI has used for intercontinental C-130 'Hercules' aircraft operations from Africa in recent years. The mountain, which was first climbed in February 1993 by a Norwegian group, actually consists of two peaks, the higher and more northerly being separated from the other by a long, sharp ridge.
Plans developed for next season's expedition involve climbing the northerly summit, crossing the intervening rock ridge, then descending via the southern peak. For environmental reasons it is not planned to use pitons and according to Hubert "the challenge will be all the more interesting as a result". The climbers will instead attempt to find a 'natural route' following the fissures in the rock, and expect to have to use the 'Pendulum' technique on reaching the end of one fissure whereby they swing on ropes to another close by via which they can continue the climb.
The attempt on Holtanna is currently expected to take place between early November and mid January and will involved five climbers, all of whom are experienced mountain guides. In addition to Hubert and Mercier the other climbers involved are named as André Georges (Switzerland), Fab Zangrilli (U.S.), and Ralph Dujmovits (Germany). A film crew will accompany the group and plan to make a documentary of the venture. Provided appropriate communication links can be maintained wih the outside world (ANAN-18/01, 29 March 2000), expedition plans include providing schools around the world access to its activities in near real time via the world wide web, as well as general educational material about Antarctica.
Alain Hubert and his colleague Dixie Dansercoer crossed Antarctica from QML to Ross Island on skis in the 1997-98 season. Dansercoer was also in Antarctica last season and completed an ascent of Vinson Massof in Ellsworth Land. Details of both the QML reconnassaince program and the Vinson Massif climb are available on Hubert and Dansercoer's 'Polar Challenges' web site at: http://www.antarctica.org/ . The web site contains many images of the region around Holtanna, Vinson Massif and the Patriot Hills.
At the same time that Holtanna was visited last January, two U.S. citizens, Ronald Ross and Sheryl Schindler conducted a week-long sledging journey in the region near 'Blue 1', being flown there by the Basler 67 at the same time as Hubert and Mercier. Prior to commencing their traverse, an experimental automatic weather station (AWS) was established and is reported to have operated without problems, although it was subsequently returned to the U.S. with the pair. Ronald and Sheryl previously visited the South Geographic Pole with ANI as tourists in the 1997-98 season.
[ANAN-19/09]
The ten person 'Pole to Pole 2000' group which expects to conduct a traverse to the South Geographic Pole (SGP) late this year (ANAN-18/08, 29 March 2000), commenced their planned journey from the Arctic to Antarctica via the Americas on 5 April. The expedition of 18-25 year olds originally planned to start from the North Geographic Pole (NGP), however due to financial limitations and concern about the difficulties involved in the crossing the Arctic Ocean, the journey was commenced at the North Magnetic Pole (NMP) some 1150 km to the south in northern Canada.
Leader of the first leg of the journey from the NMP to continental North America is Laurie Dexter who has had considerable experience in both the Arctic and Antarctica regions. In addition to his involvement in the initial stages of the 'Pole to Pole' program, Dexter is also attempting to raise funds for his own Antarctic expedition in 2000-01 (see ANAN-19/07 proceeding). Organiser of the 'Pole to Pole' venture, Martyn Williams, who was to have led all the field phases of the project, was forced to relinquish leadership of the first part of what is a complex, nine-month, program which is supposed to culminate in arrival at the SGP, in order to work on logistics and other office related aspects of the expedition, including fund raising.
Over the first week of the expedition difficulties have been experienced with high frequency radio communications due to poor propogation conditions caused by sun spot activity (ANAN-18/01, 29 March 2000).
[ANAN-19/10]
A new book titled "The Last Continent - Discovering Antarctica" has just been released by SCP Books of the U.K. and Odessey Publishing of Hong Kong. The author is Dr Bernard Stonehouse of the Scott Polar Research Institute in the U.K. who over the past fifteen years has conducted research aimed at assessing the real and potential impacts of Antarctic tourism. Stonehouse first went to Antarctica in 1946 and is still active in field studies in the region (ANAN-8/10, 10 November 1999). Since 1989 he has travelled on most Antarctic tour vessels, including the large ships 'Ocean Princess', 'Marco Polo' and the 'Rotterdam', the largest vessel to ever operate in Antarctic waters (ANAN-19/03 proceeding). The 228 page book covers matters such as Antarctic geography, history, wildlife and politics, as well as the impacts of Antarctic tourism. It also provides information on many tourist landing sites all around Antarctica. The new book, which is the latest of Stonehouse's many publications, has 130 colour photographs and fifteen colour maps. The book has two ISBN code numbers: 962-217-663-1 and 0-9537907-0-3.
[ANAN-19/11]
17-19 April 2000 (London, U.K.)
Antarctic Treaty Meeting of Experts - Guidelines for Antarctic shipping and related activities.
4 May 2000 (Hobart, Australia)
The 1999-2000 mountaineering expedition to Heard Island (presentation).
Contact: tourism@aad.gov.au
25-28 June 2000 (Hobart, Australia)
IAATO year 2000 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org
9-15 July 2000 (Tokyo, Japan)
COMNAP (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq
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