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NEWS
Brief news items on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic non-government expedition activities.
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Dispatched on Wednesday, 10 May 2000 @ 0600 UTC.
News in this edition:
21-01. Australian Group Plans Expansion of Antarctic Activities.
21-02. Two Antarctic Voyages Planned for 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' in 2000-01.
21-03. Surfing Group Has Limited Success Finding Good Waves.
21-04. 'World Discoverer' Damaged in Pacific incident.
21-05. N.Z. Workshop To Look At Antarctic Tourism Issues.
21-06. 'Aurora' Anchors Target of Proposed 2000-01 Expedition.
21-07. Lone Rower Recovering But Loses Toes.
21-08. Netherlands Group Planning Major Continental Traverse.
21-09. New Company Offering Antarctic Adventure Activities.
21-10. Quality of GPS Signals Improved.
21-11. Climb of 'Seven Summits' in Twelve Months Planned.
21-12. 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 News, 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.
Australian company McIntyre Marine, which has undertaken a series of Antarctic ventures since the mid-1990s, announced on 4 May that its sister organisation Ocean Frontiers has acquired an ice strengthened vessel for use in Antarctic operations. Coupled with the company's construction of five yachts capable of supporting adventure-type activities from 2002-03 onwards, the purchase signals an expansion of commercial operations by the Sydney-based group in the Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and south-west Pacific regions.
The vessel Ocean Frontiers purchased last week is the thirty-seven metre long, 370 gross registered tonne, ice strengthened ship 'Tutka', which was built in Finland in 1960. 'Ocean Frontiers' principle Don McIntyre says that his company intends to use the ship for operations "in Australasian and Antarctic waters", and that he expects "educational programs, scientific research, film expeditions, environmental monitoring and private ventures" to be the type of activities that will be supported commercially by the vessel over the next four to five years.
'Tutka' is to undergo a refit and 'major upgrade' prior to Antarctic operations planned for later this year (ANAN-21/02). Work costing around $US500,000 has been scheduled over the next few months and includes ensuring that the latest international and Australian safety standards are met, construction of a helideck, installation of satellite communications facilities, and general refurbishment tasks. The vessel, which can cary thirty-two passengers, has been renamed 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' after the pioneer Australian polar explorer who spent three decades working in both the Arctic and Antarctic in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
A single helicopter is expected to be purchased later this year for operations from the vessel. In addition, longer term plans call for a "small submarine" to be added to the ship's inventory, although this is unlikely to come on line before the 2001-02 austral summer. McIntyre Marine's nineteen metre yacht 'Spirit of Sydney', which has been the main stay of the group's operations to date, is for sale as the new vessel will take over and expand on her role.
Purchase of the 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' by Ocean Frontiers is part of a coordinated push into Antarctica by the McIntyres and their associates. In addition to obtaining 'Tutka', Ocean Frontiers is currently constructing five identical eighteen metre 'McIntyre 55' yachts in a factory it purchased near Sydney earlier this year. These craft are being built as part of the McIntyre's planned 'Together Alone' around the world yacht ocean race scheduled for 2001-02 which includes transits across sub-Antarctic regions. The race concept involves using yachts of identical design and manufacture so that the crew's ability is the determining factor in the result, rather than the 'vagaries of design'. When the race is completed in April 2002 these craft will be available to conduct a range of adventure sailing activities in Antarctica and elsewhere.
Since 1994 McIntyre Marine have used 'Spirit of Sydney' for ten voyages to Commonwealth Bay, George V Land, the site of Sir Douglas Mawson's historic 1911-14 expedition main base and the McIntyre's small overwintering facility. Five people have wintered there over the last half decade, the first pair being Don and his wife Margie in 1995, the three subsequent winterers hiring the hut for an annual fee (ANAN-8/05, 10 November 1999).
It is understood that discussions are currently underway with several couples interested in wintering at Cape Denison in 2001, although approval for the hut to remain in Antarctica is yet to be obtained from the Australian government. Should that proposal proceed, 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' would be used to transport both the personnel, their equipment and stores, to Cape Denison, and return them to Australia early in 2002. The first of Ocean Frontiers' new 'McIntyre 55' yachts is also expected to journey to Cape Denison in January 2001.
In addition to their own programs the McIntyres have worked closely with Australian businessman Dick Smith to develop a number of his ideas for Antarctic ventures. These included a now dormant proposal which involved establishing a blue ice runway facility and field camp on the Rennick Glacier in Victoria Land, and other activities which Smith would like to undertake in the area between Commonwealth Bay and Cape Adare at the north-western tip of the Ross Sea. Smith calls this area 'the forbidden coast' because sea ice often blocks access to the region even at the height of summer, and it is notoriously difficult to operate ships there (ANAN-21/02).
Smith is supportive of the McIntyres acquisition of the 'Tutka' and has publicly stated his admiration for Sir Hubert Wilkins and his achievements on many occasions. On both occassions he has flown an aircraft to Antarctica, he has acquired the registration letters 'SHW' for them in honour of the polar pioneer (ANAN-12/07, 5 January 2000 and ANAN-14/07, 2 February 2000).
[ANAN-21/01]
TWO ANTARCTIC VOYAGES PLANNED
FOR THE 'SIR HUBERT WILKINS' IN 2000-01
Ocean Frontiers principle Don McIntyre currently anticipates using his company's newly acquired vessel 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' to conduct two voyages to coastal areas of George V, Oates and northern Victoria Lands during the 2000-01 season (ANAN-21/01 proceeding). According to the company precise details of the vessel's program are still being developed, however McIntyre says that operations will include "underwater surveys, mapping unchartered waters, testing some unique over-snow vehicles, cleaning up and removing rubbish from previously occupied sites, and exploring coastal areas rarely visited by humans".
Following planned modifications over the next few months, the vessel is scheduled to arrive in Sydney, Australia, in October after a delivery voyage from Finland via the Panama Canal. It is due in the southern port of Hobart in mid-November where final preparations will be made for its Antarctic program.
'Sir Hubert Wilkins' is expected to leave Hobart on its first voyage in mid-December. This voyage is likely to focus around a visit to Commonwealth Bay in George V Land to undertake bathymetric surveys, vehicle testing, site clean up works, and possibly operations in support of two persons who may winter at the McIntyres small facility there in 2001 (ANAN-21/01 proceeding and ANAN-8/05, 10 November 1999).
The second voyage is likely to leave Hobart in the last half of January and is expected to focus on 'exploring ice conditions' in the region between there at Cape Adare in the north-west of the Ross Sea during February. This region is referred to by Australian businessman Dick Smith, who has praised Ocean Frontiers' recent vessel purchase, as the 'forbidden coast', and is an area that he has hinted several times publicly since 1989 where he would like to conduct a range of activities (ANAN-21/01 proceeding).
Given the difficult ice conditions that are normally present in that area, use of a vessel that is ice strengthened but not an ice breaker, will require considerable care. The German-registered vessel 'Gotland II' was caught in heavy pack ice in the area in 1982 while supporting national program operations and eventually sank. The 'Southern Quest', a private expedition vessel not dissimilar to the 'Sir Hubert Wilkins', was lost in the Ross Sea in 1986 in a similar way (ANAN-19/01, 12 April 2000).
An area of key interest for Ocean Frontiers is the conduct of a bathymetric survey of the sea bed within three to four kilometres of Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay. Little reliable sounding data is available for this area, and over the past five years at least three Antarctic tourist ships have had direct encounters with some of the many rock pinnacles known to dot the area. As 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' is expected by Don McIntyre to be a "regular visitor to Commonwealth Bay in the future", he sees the gathering of such information as a high priority in order to ensure that his new vessel can operate safely in the area.
Apart from preparing the vessel and finalising its plans, Ocean Frontiers will require to obtain a range of approvals for its operations from a number of Australian government agencies well prior to any voyages to Antarctica getting underway. Apart from environmental impact assessments, other matters related to ship safety, insurance, search-and-rescue arrangements and aircraft operations will need to be assessed.
Ocean Frontiers' plans for the Commonwealth Bay area coincide with plans by two other separate Australian groups who hope to work there in 2000-01. These are the Oceanic Research Foundation (ANAN-21/06 following), and the AAP Mawson's Hut Foundation which has been developing plans to complete restoration work on Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 expedition hut at Cape Denison (ANAN-2/04, 18 August 1999).
[ANAN-21/02]
An eight-man exp edition which travelled to the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula earlier this year in search of good surfing conditions had only limited success in their quest, finding only two spots at which they were able to obtain 'good rides'.
The eight surfers who funded the journey were affiliated with the U.S. based Surfer's Medical Association. Those involved included three medical doctors, one full-time professional surfer, three journalists and a photographer. U.S. surfing sources claim that the group consisted of some of the "best-known and most experienced surfers in the world", most having being involved in surfing for over twenty-years. None had been to Antarctica previously however.
The expedition used the Falkland Islands based twenty metre steel schooner 'Golden Fleece' (ANAN-4/04, 15 September 1999) for its month long journey which began in Ushuaia, Argentina, on 31 January . Two weeks of the voyage was spent looking for and trialing suitable locations for surfing as the vessel worked its way southwards from Elephant Island, down the west coast of the South Shetlands, Gerlache Strait, Anvers Island, and the Lemaire Channel. Furthest south reached by the group was the Ukranian station Vernadskiy in the Argentine Islands, and the route back to Ushuaia involved visits to Low Island in the South Shetlands and Cape Horn.
Prior to the expedition nautical charts of the north-western Peninsula were studied to try and identify likely surfing locations. 'Golden Fleece' skipper Jeremey Poncet, who has sailed the area on many occasions over the last two decades and knows the area well, assisted the group in their efforts to identify good areas.
Target areas identified prior to the voyage included Elephant, Gibbs, Snow and Deception Islands. During the expedition surfing was conducted off Cape Belsham on Elephant Island, Point Wild where Shackleton's men awaited the return of the leader in 1916, Harmony Point on Nelson Island, near Rugged Island off Livingston Island, off Neptune's Bellows on Deception Island, and at Low Island. Only Harmony Point and Low Island provided the group with what they described as 'good surfing conditions', the latter being their favourite location.
During their forays into the surf the riders normally wore specially designed wet suits which covered them from head to foot, including goggles. None of the group reported any serious cold-related problems during sessions which sometimes lasted an hour or more, and on a number of occasions some of them felt comfortable enough to surf without head cover.
[ANAN-21/03]
The vessel 'World Discoverer', which for over twenty years has spent three months each austral summer conducting tourist voyages to the Antarctic Peninsula region, was damaged in an incident in the south-west Pacific on 29 April. Surveys of damage inflicted have been undertaken by engineers over the last week, however the vessel remains ashore where it was deliberately beached and a decision has not yet been announced about its future.
U.S. based Society Expeditions which operates the vessel say that their vessel had struck "an unchartered reef" some thirty kilometres from the Solomons Island capital Honiara, and that the Captain was forced "as a precaution" to run it on to a nearby beach to ensure the safety of passengers and crew. Media reports indicate most of the vessel is on the beach but that her stern is still afloat. No oil, petrol or other pollutants were reported to have escaped from the hull as a result of the incident. Michael Lomax, President of Society Expeditions, praised the actions of the ship and cruise staff who were on the vessel, saying that they had performed in a "exemplary manner" during the whole event.
The 99 passengers involved were ferried to a nearby island and were later taken to the main island in the Solomons Guadalcanal by charter vessel. They were flown from there to Australia by a flight chartered by Society Expeditions on 30 April and later flew back to their homes in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.
The 87 m, 3724 gross registered tonne 'World Discoverer', which was built in Germany in 1974 as the 'Bewa Discoverer', was to undergo its annual dry dock in Japan when the cruise concluded on 11 May. Apart from normal annual maintenance work, the shipyard schedule included the addition of two new suites on the Boat Deck and the installation of an upgraded fire protection system throughout the vessel.
Plans announced by Society for the 2000-01 Antarctic season call for 'World Discoverer' to conduct seven tourist voyages to the Antarctic Peninsula and South Atlantic region between early December and the end of February. Just over 700 people have travelled to Antarctica with the vessel each season in recent years. What impact, if any, the Solomons incident will have on this program is uncertain at this stage. Society said in a press release two days after the grounding that they then anticipated that any repairs needed would be performed during the dry docking, however no updates are currently available from the company on the matter.
While it occured outside the Antarctic Treaty area, the difficulties currently being experiencd by 'World Discoverer' highlight the type of issues which potentially face both government and non-government ship operations in Antarctica. There issues related to climate, distances, resources and facilities available, normally make recovery from such incidents much more difficult than in other regions.
The Antarctic Treaty System has commenced discussion on the development of guidelines for ships operating in Antarctic waters, much of which is poorly chartered. This is being done to try and minimise the chances of serious incidents occuring at sea in the Antarctic region, as well as any associated environmental damage that can often flow from such events (ANAN-19/01, 12 April 2000; and ANAN-20/01, 26 April 2000).
[ANAN-21/04]
A one day conference is to be held in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 23 June to explore the benefits and risks of Antarctic tourism, and to examine the range of potential environmental impacts which could result from activities in that field. The workshop, which is being organised by Antarctica New Zealand (ANZ), will focus mainly on the Ross Sea region.
ANZ's Chief Executive Gillian Wratt said last Monday that the meeting is aimed at providing detailed information to her Institute so that it can consider its future role with regard to tourism matters, and also to a NZ Government committee which is responsible for drafting government policy on Antarctic issues.
The workshop is designed for commercial operators who are interested in the Antarctic region and who have an interest in eco-tourism, groups and organisations concerned with Antarctic environmental protection issues, and government agencies who are working in the Antarctic and are already liaising with tourism operators. Enquiries about the workshop should be forwarded to Vivienne Allan, ANZ's Communications and Marketing Manager at: v.allan@antarcticanz.govt.nz
[ANAN-21/05]
A private Australian volunteer group, the Oceanic Research Foundation (ORF), is developing plans to travel to Commonwealth Bay, George V Land, in 2000-01, to examine the feasibility of recovering three anchors lost overboard from the historic expedition vessel 'Aurora' in 1912. In addition to conducting the 'standard' environmental impact assessment of the proposal, the Australian Government is also evaluating the policy aspects of any future recovery and potential subsequent restoration and display.
The anchors which are the target of the ORF's plans were lost overboard from Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) vessel 'Aurora' when the AAE's main base at Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay was being established in January 1912.
The ORF's current plan is to conduct the visit to Commonwealth Bay using its twenty metre, two-masted, steel schooner "Explorer". The vessel, which can accommodate twelve passengers and crew, has been used by the Foundation since its formation in the late 1970s for a variety of expedition programs from the tropics to Antarctica.
Over the past twenty years "Explorer" has been to the Antarctic on a number of occasions under a variety of names, including "Dick Smith Explorer" and "Allan and Vi Thistlehwayte". Programs supported in that time include a six person wintering expedition to Princess Elizabeth Land in 1983 when the vessel was deliberately frozen in for the winter, conservation work on the AAE's Commonwealth Bay huts in the mid 1980s, and a 1988 mountaineering expedition which climbed 4165 m Mount Minto in Victoria Land. During the latter expedition considerable problems were experienced with equipment on board the vessel.
'Explorer' was built in Sydney in 1966 and is a Herreshoff Marco Polo design. Her main engine is a 140 HP Caterpillar with a twin disc hydraulic gearbox. She is equipped with radar, satellite navigation , HF and VHF radios and a depth sounder. Standard safety equipment is reported to be carried on board as well as aluminium and inflatable tenders on deck. 'Explorer' is currently undergoing a major refit in Melbourne, Australia, in preparation for the proposed venture.
ORF's plans for the Commonwealth Bay area coincide with those of two separate Australian groups who hope to work there in 2000-01. These are the Ocean Frontiers' group (see ANAN-21/01 and 21/02 proceeding), and the AAP Mawson's Hut Foundation which has been developing plans to complete conservation work on Mawson's 1911-14 expedition huts (ANAN-2/04, 18 August 1999). Supernova's icebreaking tourist vessel the 'Kapitan Khlebnikov' is also scheduled to visit Commonwealth Bay in early February 2001 at the end of a voyage which takes it into the Ross Sea.
[ANAN-21/06]
Media reports from France indicate that Jo Le Guen, who was forced to abandon his attempt to row his nine metre boat 'Keep It Blue' solo across sub-Antarctic waters between New Zealand and South America in early April, has lost all his toes as a result of privations suffered during his two months at sea.
Suffering what is believed to have been blood poisoning, gangrene and frostbite, Le Guen was flown to a Naval hospital in Punta Arenas, Chile, on 8 April from the container ship 'Palliser Bay' which had picked him up some 2700 km south-east of New Zealand five days earlier (ANAN-19/04, 12 April 2000). Soon after arrival in hospital eight of his toes had to be amputated, and the remaining two were removed in France several weeks later. Le Guen's wounds are apparently healing well and he is expected to be able to walk again, however he will probably need to undergo further surgery to repair a damaged Achilles tendon, and is likely to remain in hospital in Brest for at least a few more weeks.
According to the on line 'Antarctican' newsletter (ANAN-7/13, 27 October 1999), on board satellite transmissions are continuing to be received from Le Guen's boat 'Keep It Blue' which was abandoned when he transferred to the 'Palliser Bay'. Data received from the boat's Argos beacon (ANAN-18/01, 29 March 2000) indicate that it is still afloat, and that it has drifted several hundred kilometres from where it was abandoned on 3 April.
[ANAN-21/07]
A Netherlands based expedition is planning to undertake a three-man traverse from Queen Maud Land (QML) to the South Geographic Pole (SGP) and on to the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land in 2000-01 in the last phase of an four expedition program that has already taken its members to Brazil, Ecuador and Papua New Guineau.
The three members involved in the proposed Sasquatch Expeditions traverse, Edmond Ofner, Joost Cohensius and Marc Cornelissen, plan to undertake what is a 3000 km journey on skis and without resupply using parasails to assist them where conditions are suitable. Such sails have been used by a number of polar traverses in recent years and have enabled high daily rates of travel to be achieved (ANAN-10/04, 8 December 1999 and ANAN-11/12, 22 December 1999). According to the group it expects to leave the QML area in November, arrive at the SGP around New Year, and be at the Patriot Hills towards the end of January.
Given the nature of their planned program the three will need air support to deploy them at the start of their journey, provide search-and-rescue cover during the traverse, and to fly them from the Patriot Hills to South America at the conclusion of their journey. It is not known at this time just what arrangements have been made in this regard however.
Sasquatch originally planned to conduct a traverse from the vicinity of Australia's Davis station to the SGP, however the costs of acquiring support from ANI in that area were prohibited, and a subsequent request for logistics support to the Australian national program by expedition organisers was turned down. Given those set backs Sasquatch appear to have been revising their traverse plans for some time but have only recently up-dated their web site to reflect their QML-SGP-Patriot traverse plans.
Two women, Liz Arnesen and Ann Bancroft, are also planning to conduct a traverse to the SGP from QML next season, however unlike the Sasquatch trio their plan is to continue across the continent to Ross Island in the south-west of the Ross Sea (ANAN-18/05, 29 March 2000). Arnesen and Bancroft plan to fly into QML with ANI from Cape Town, South Africa, and it is possible that Ofner, Cohensius and Cornelissen could arrive there the same way to commence their journey.
A number of other traverses to the SGP from the edge of the continent have been proposed for 2000-01, and at least one other is hoping to undertake a trans-Antarctic crossing from Berkner Island to the Ross Sea provided sufficient funding can be obtained (ANAN-19/07, 12 April 2000).
[ANAN-21/08]
A new Australian company High Jinx, has started to offer adventure tourism opportunities in Antarctica following the successful completion of a climbing expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula by its principle, Lucas Trihey, last January. Trihey returned from that expedition convinced that the Peninsula area had a 'huge' potential for climbing and other adventure activities (ANAN-16/01, 1 March 2000).
Trihey, who has had a wide range of climbing experiences in many parts of the world, is now marketing two, yacht-based, expeditions to the Antarctic Peninsula in 2000-01 which he says are suitable for mountaineering, skiing, photography, or general sightseeing. The groups involved can comprise up to five clients plus a mountain guide and the two crew of the yacht. Cost of the five week trip ex South America is put at around $US8000, a fee which includes yacht charter, food, mountain guiding, group camping and climbing equipment.
A number of yachts have been conducting similar activities in the Peninsula area for a number of years (ANAN-2/03 and 2/06, 18 August 1999; ANAN-4/04, 15 September 1999; ANAN-7/11, 27 October 1999; ANAN-14/05, 2 February 2000; and ANAN-17/03, 15 March 2000), and High Jinx is understood to be affiliated with several of those operations.
[ANAN-21/09]
The United States has ended a long-standing practice of intentionally degrading the quality of signals from its constellation of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, paving the way for more accurate civilian uses of the system. GPS is now the prime means of general position fixing used by ships, aircraft, and field parties in Antarctica, and is a key tool in science and general survey activities in the region.
According to on line newsletter 'Space Flight News', the U.S. military stopped using Selective Availability (SA), a feature that intentionally reduced the accuracy of GPS signals available to non-military users, on 1 May. With SA turned on, civilian receivers could rely on positions that were accurate to no more than 100 m. With it off, users should now get positions as accurate as 20 m and potentially as good as 10 m.
The U.S. plans additional enhancements to the GPS system over the next few years that are primarily designed for civilian use. A second GPS signal will be added to the system in 2003 with a third to come on line two years later; while a replacement set of satellites are due for launch later this decade. Ground-based enhancement systems are also under development to further improve accuracy for specific applications. Included in these is the provision of precise navigation tools needed for flight operations in poor weather on approaches to, and departures from, remote airports such as those currently used in Antarctica (ANAN-17/03, 15 March 2000).
[ANAN-21/10]
British Climber Gavin Bate has commenced an attempt to climb to the world's Seven Summits in less than twelve months, and currently hopes to climb Antarctica's highest peak, Vinson Massif, towards the end of this year (ANAN-19/01, 12 April 2000). According to the on line newsletter 'Mountain Mail', 'probably close to 100' people have attained the seven summits since the mid-1980s.
'Mountain Mail' says however that even if he achieves his goal, Bate he will not have attained the seven peaks in the fastest time. According to that newsletter Rob Hall climbed all seven in a seven month period in the late 1980s, and recognising this Bates is quoted as saying that his aim is "just a grand adventure" which the newsletter says "seems reason enough".
[ANAN-21/11]
10 May (London, U.K.)
Adventure Network International presentation at the Royal Geographical Society.
Contact: adventurenetwork@compuserve.com
23 June (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Workshop on Tourism in the Ross Sea Region.
Contact: v.allan@antarcticanz.govt.nz
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
5 February 2001 (King George Island, Antarctica)
Fourth Antarctic Marathin and Half Marathon.
Contact: marathon@shore.net
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