NEWS
Brief news items on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic
non-government expedition activities.
Tourism Industry |
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News as at Wednesday, 25 April 2001 @ 0600 UTC.
News in this edition:
45-01. Suspected Poacher Seized After Two-Week Chase.
45-02. IAATO Examines Change To 2001 Meeting Date.
45-03. Tour Company Plans Focus On Adventure Activities.
45-04. ME Says New Investors Set Scene For Growth.
45-05. Book, TV Documentary, Produced On Sasquatch Expedition.
45-06. KGI 2002 Marathon Fully Booked.
45-07. SASCO Disappears From View.
45-08. Coming Events Relevant to Non-Government Activities.
IN READING PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter is produced in the interest of improved information sharing in the Antarctic and sub-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 concerned.
A vessel allegedly found fishing illegally in sub-Antarctic waters close to sub-Antarctic Heard Island was seized by a military boarding party earlier this month following a two-week, 4,600 km chase across the Southern Ocean and cooperative action involving both South African and Australian authorities. The vessel was subsequently found to have on board around ninety tonnes of Patagonian toothfish worth some $US750,000 at current market prices.
Pursuit of the 50 m 'South Tomi' began on 29 March after the Australian Fisheries patrol vessel 'Southern Supporter' sighted the long liner with nets in the water in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around Heard Island. After a short chase and exchange of information the 'South Tomi' was directed to head for the Australian west coast port of Fremantle. However, after at first concurring, once out of the EEZ the long liner headed west towards Africa, forcing the 'Southern Supporter' to engage in a 'hot pursuit'.
Under international law foreign vessels that are believed to have violated the laws of a State can be pursued into international waters and arrested provided the pursuit is not interrupted for the duration of the chase. The 'Southern Supporter' maintained continuous pursuit despite often difficult weather and sea conditions while Australian authorities planned how best to apprehend the suspected poacher.
An Australian boarding and steaming party made up of some forty military personnel and fisheries officers boarded the 'South Tomi' in international waters some 350 km south of Cape Town, South Africa, on 12 April. The Australian party had flown to South Africa and once there boarded the South African Navy vessels 'Protea' and 'Galashewe' which transported them to the intercept point. Following the arrest the steaming party turned the fishing vessel east towards Fremantle where it and the 'Southern Supporter' are currently expected to arrive sometime around 8 May.
'South Tomi', which is believed to be registered in the small west-African nation of Togo, has a crew of forty-four, however, details of just who owns the vessel have yet to be released. The vessel's Captain, who is understood to be a Spanish national, faces fines of up to $US150,000 under Australian fisheries laws. It is also expected that the owners will be charged with offences under those laws and that both the boat and the highly valuable toothfish catch will be forfeited.
Management of toothfish fish stocks in sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters, which is carried out by States who are Parties to CCAMLR (the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources), is being significantly undermined by boats which conduct illegal or unregulated fishing operations in the CCAMLR area, or, in contravention of the conservation measures agreed to by CCAMLR.
In particular a key focus of such vessels in recent years has been the sub-Antarctic islands of Kerguelen and Crozet (France), Heard (Australia), Prince Edward (South Africa), and nearby areas (ANAN-33/01, 25 October 2000).
Maintaining regular fishing patrols in such areas so far from ports in the African and Australian regions is difficult and expensive. Despite this 'South Tomi' is the fourth fishing boat to be arrested by Australia in Heard Island waters over the past three years while French authorities are understood to have apprehended close to twenty vessels in its waters in that time. There are, however, clear indications that other vessels continue to fish illegally in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean region and other CCAMLR areas.
In addition to national authorities the international environmental group Greenpeace has been conducting a campaign against illegal and unregulated fishing in the Southern Ocean; its vessel 'Arctic Sunrise' undertaking three Southern Ocean voyages in recent years in pursuit of vessels operating illegally (ANAN-19/08, 12 April 2000).
[ANAN-45/01]
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) is considering bringing forward its year 2001 annual meeting from mid July to late June as a result of the recent six week slippage in the timing of this year's Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM).
IAATO has for some time been planning to hold this year's gathering of its members from 9-12 July in the U.S. capital Washington D.C., however, those dates now fall into the first week of ATCM-24 which is now understood to be scheduled for 9-20 July in St. Petersburg, Russia, rather than late May early June as anticipated until recently (ANAN-44/02, 11 April 2001).
IAATO Executive Secretary Denise Landau told ANAN earlier this week that the tourist body is looking at the possibilities of rescheduling its year 2001 meeting to a four day period in late June. Due to the large number of member companies involved and the difficulties of finding a suitable location in Washington for the meeting at relatively short notice, it has not been possible as yet however to finalise either the timing or the general arrangements that will apply this year. Landau, who will be attending the St Peterburg ATCM as IAATO's representative, says that she hopes to be able to advise her members of any new arrangements that will apply for their meeting sometime in the next few days.
This year's annual meeting will be IAATO's twelfth since 1991, the first nine taking place in Washington, D.C., the tenth in Hamburg, Germany (ANAN-1/04, 4 August 1999), and last year's in Hobart, Australia (ANAN-25/01, 5 July 2000).
Enquiries about this year's meeting, including requests to attend, should be directed to Denise Landau via e-mail at iaato@iaato.org. When finalised the agenda for the meeting is expected to be posted on IAATO's web site at: http://www.iaato.org/
[ANAN-45/02]
Newly established company 'Antarctic Horizons' is offering a range of optional adventure activities as part of ship-based tour operations it is planning to commence in the 2001-02 austral summer.
Horizon's recently released brochure indicates that the company proposes to offer its clients shore landing and zodiac cruising options that are now standard Antarctic fare. In addition however, it is also offering opportunities to take part in overnight camping sea kayaking and mountaineering activities of the type offered in recent years by several other companies, as well as what are described as glacier walks, cross-country skiing, iceberg and rock climbing. These activities are part of what is a growing tendency for tour companies to offer an increasingly wide range of 'off-ship' adventure activities to their clients.
The new company says that it has signed a contract with U.S. based Quark Expeditions to use the 49 passenger vessel 'Professor Multanovskiy' for a single, ten day, voyage from Ushuaia, Argentina, to the Antarctic Peninsula from 14-23 February 2002. Andrew Lock, one of the company's principles and an experienced alpinist, told ANAN earlier this week that his company is looking at options for expanding the number of voyages it operates in the Peninsula region in 2002-03.
The agreement with Quark is understood to involve the provision of both the ship and its crew, while Antarctic Horizons is to provide all expedition staff. The new company says that those who will be involved in running its venture from 'Multanovskiy' all have had either wintering or "extensive summer experience" with the Australian national program as well as previous experience in tour operations in the Antarctic Peninsula region.
According to Andrew Lock the coming season's voyage is likely to focus primarily on the area around Paradise Bay and the Lemaire Channel as it offers a wide range of adventure opportunities (ANAN-16/01, 1 March 2000), although activities in the the Antarctic Sound region near the northern tip of the Peninsula are also a possibility.
As the new company is based in Australia its planned operations will be subject to environmental assessment in that country before it can proceed. Antarctic Horizons has also indicated that it plans to pursue membership of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators although as yet no moves have been made in that direction.
Horizon's principles have operated adventure tour operations in South America, Asia and Australia over the past twenty years. The company expects to have a web site operational in the near future.
[ANAN-45/03]
Canadian tour company Marine Expeditions (ME) announced earlier this month that its acquisition of new investors and an alliance with a Canadian tour industry council has set the scene for what it sees as the long-term growth of the company's operations in both the Antarctic and Arctic regions.
ME was formed last August after its predecessor Marine Expeditions Inc. (MEI) was declared bankrupt after eight years of operation (ANAN-34/01, 8 November 2000). A number of MEI's assets, including the name 'Marine Expeditions', were purchased by Patrick Shaw and Dugald Wells, two long-time members of MEI's operations management team, who became ME's President and Chief Executive Officer respectively.
Marine Expeditions utilised two 128-passenger, ice strengthened sister ships, the 'Lyubov Orlova' and 'Mariya Yermolova' during the 2000-01 season just completed. According to the company occupancy rates on the twenty voyages conducted averaged eight five per cent. Such a high load factor suggests that ME has been able, despite the administrative upheavals of last year, to sustain the fourteen per cent market share of Antarctic ship-borne tourists MEI achieved in the late 1990s with its low price, high throughput, approach to Antarctic tourism.
According to ME's 10 April press release, Shaw and Wells have recently secured additional financial backing by forming a partnership with the Canadian Venture Capital Corporation (CVCC) which is now Marine's largest shareholder, although just what level of funds is involved has not been made public. CVCC President James Stewart was quoted as saying that ME is a "terrific company" and that with the new arrangements "everything is now in place for it to realize its full potential".
Stewart, who is CVCC's sole shareholder, is described by ME as "one of Canada's most successful venture capitalists", having "carved out a specialized niche as an investor in financially challenged middle market companies [in conjunction with] turnaround strategies". He is understood to have invested in over 100 companies since the early 1970s and is said to have "often taken an active role in management at the strategic and senior operating levels", although at Marine his role is simply described as the "coach" of the management team headed by Shaw and Wells.
LOSCO Shipping, the Swiss-based Russian owners of Marine Expeditions' flagship the 'Lyubov Orlova', is also said to have signed on as an investor and to have made "a long-term commitment to growing [Marine's] business".
It is understood that the new investment from CVCC and LOSCO will be used by ME to upgrade its ships, expand product offerings to a wider range of remote destinations, and to seize the opportunity to capture the aging baby boomer market's growing interest in adventure travel, a phenomenon that many company's are currently attempting to target (ANAN-6/02, 13 October 1999 and ANAN-28/01, 16 August 2000).
No details are yet available on the planned expansion in the range of remote destinations the company plans to offer its clients, particularly as they relate to the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic region, nor on the proposed upgrade of Marine's fleet.
In addition to the new investors ME also announced that its future passengers will have what it says is the added benefit of financial protection from the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO), a regulatory agency that ME has registered with so that its passengers have added insurance.
Marine says that under the new arrangement all passenger deposits for air and land are now held in trust by TICO registered company Marine Expeditions Travel until paid directly to end suppliers, while the cruise portion of customer deposits are covered by a compensation fund that is understood to guarantee ME clients the equivalent of around $US2,300 in the event of an operator default.
Some passengers and others are believed to have lost significant amounts of money as a result of MEI's bankruptcy last year (ANAN-34/02, 8 November 2000). ME's relationship with TICO appears to be aimed at reassuring its potential clients that ME is sound, although the company stressed to ANAN that it "protected more than 1,000 passengers, as well as many MEI creditors (including ship suppliers and travel agents) who supported the turn-around" last year.
ME is currently a Probationary Member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). Its predecessor MEI was reduced from Full membership status at last June's IAATO meeting because of aspects of its operational relationship with its then sister organisation the World Cruise Company (ANAN-17/07, 15 March 2000), an entity that was also declared bankrupt last year (ANAN-34/02, 8 November 2000).
[ANAN-45/04]
A dutch-language book which details the Antarctic activities of the 'Origins' or 'Sasquatch' Expedition is due for release in The Netherlands by early in May, while a television documentary on the venture is expected to be aired on Dutch television late next month.
Two members of the expedition, Marc Cornelissen and Wilco van Rooijen, completed an 'unsupported' return journey to the South Geographic Pole from the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land on 16 January (ANAN-39/10, 17 January 2001). The sixty-six day, 2,200 km trek was the last in a series of four ventures that took expedition personnel to Brazil, Ecuador and Papua New Guineau.
The book on the Antarctic traverse has the title 'Bevlogen over ijs' however no information is currently available about its publisher or price. According to a Dutch speaker the title of the book translates into English as either 'madness', 'stupidity' or 'irrational behaviour' on ice.
The name of the television documentary, which is expected to cover the entire four-part Origins expedition program, has not yet been released, however it is understood that it will be shown on Dutch Channel RTL5 in two fifty minute halves on 22 and 23 May. While no plans have been announced it is possible than versions in other languages may be available in the future.
[ANAN-45/05]
All places in the marathon and half marathon races that are scheduled to be held on King George Island (KGI) off the Antarctic Peninsula on 30 January 2002 (ANAN-25/10, 5 July 2000) have been booked and a 'wait list' established according to a note posted on the web site of the U.S. company Marathon Tours and Travel on 12 April.
Participants in what will be the fifth such event held in the Peninsula region since 1995 are to travel to KGI from Ushuaia, Argentina, on Canadian tour company Marine Expedition's vessel 'Lyubov Orlova'. This year's races were again be run on KGI however they had to be held on the ship because of weather conditions at KGI (ANAN-41/13, 14 February 2001). A general report on this austral summer's event is available at: http://www.waddleon.com/racelogs/antarctica2001/slideshow/index.shtml
The announcement that next year's KGI race was fully subscribed came shortly after air and tour operator Adventure Network International announced its plans to conduct a marathon race on the high plateau of Antarctica early in January 2002 (ANAN-44/01, 11 April 2001).
[ANAN-45/06]
The Southern Australia Shipping Company (SASCO) which has been proposing to conduct tourist operations in the Ross Sea region over the last two austral summers has closed its offices in Hobart, Australia, and it would appear that the venture is now defunct.
SASCO, which announced its Antarctic tourism plans early in 1999, was hoping to purchase the Russian vessel 'Olga Sadovskaya' from the Far East Shipping Company in Vladivostock, however negotations failed despite continuing assurances by the company over a period of more than a year of the ship's imminent arrival in Hobart in the lead up to Antarctic operations (ANAN-27/09, 2 August 2000).
The company opened its office in Hobart in July 2000 and its Managing Director, John Webb, was saying publicly as late as last November that it would operate several voyages to the Ross Sea in 2000-01. Reports indicate that by that time SASCO had switched its attention to acquiring the 'Lyubov Orlova', one of the Sadovskaya's sister ships, however plans to use it were never realised as the vessel was already under contract to Canadian tour company Marine Expeditions (see ANAN-45/04 preceding and ANAN-34/01, 8 November 2000).
SASCO's apparent failure will be a disappointment to the Australian State government of Tasmania which has been trying to encourage Antarctic tour ship companies to base their operations out of Hobart for a number of years.
[ANAN-45/07]
Please forward notice of events via e-mail to: tourism@aad.gov.au. Up-dates are made to ANAN's web site at
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/default.asp as soon as new information comes to hand.
YEAR 2001
Late June? (Washington, D.C., United States)[Dates to be finalised].
IAATO year 2001 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
9-20 July (St Petersburg, Russia).
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXIV
17-21 July (St Petersburg, Russia).
Antarctic Geodesy Symposium 2001.
Contact: aerogeodezia@actor.ru (Dr Alexander Yuskevitch)
20-24 August (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
COMNAP XIII (including the sub-committee on Tourism and
Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).
27 August - 1 September (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
VIII SCAR Biology Symposium (Session on "Antarctic research, human
impacts and environmental policy").
For registration contact: vu_conference@dienst.vu.nl
September [Dates to be finalised] (Brittany, France)
Second international exhibition for polar philately.
Contact: philex.pole@laposte.net
YEAR 2002
30 January 2002 (King George Island, Antarctica)
Fifth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon.
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan)
8-19 July (Shanghai, China).
XXVII SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research).
July [Dates/location to be set] (Europe).
IAATO year 2002 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
13-18 July (Shanghai, China)
COMNAP XIV (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government
Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).
YEAR 2003
July [Dates to be set] (Seattle, United States).
IAATO year 2003 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
[ANAN-45/08]
