(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-27 09:43

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators was founded by seven companies with the goal of promoting "safe and environmentally responsible" travel. The group now has 99 members, but there are tour groups working outside the association which may not follow its safety and environmental guidelines.

"Because of management principles that (the association) has put in place, we've managed environmental impact," said Denise Landau, the association's executive director. "The concern is that companies outside the membership are not playing with the rest of the operators."

Toronto-based G.A.P. Adventures, the owner of the Explorer, is an association member. Passengers paid as much as $14,000 for a suite on board the vessel during the 19-day cruise.

The ship was a relatively small 246 feet, with a double hull billed by the company as "a go-anywhere ship for the go-anywhere traveler."

But the Antarctic's blinding sleet, fog, high winds and treacherous seas -- even in the October-to-April summer when cruise ships flock to the area by the dozens -- make sailing treacherous for even the most rugged vessel.

"If a ship like that can go down, it really should be a wake-up call about allowing vessels that are not ice-strengthened and do not have double hulls to go down there at all," Barnes said.

The Golden Princess, a 689-foot cruise ship that cam carry 2,425 passengers, sailed Antarctic waters this season, but passengers did not set foot on the Antarctic and there were no incidents.

A paper presented at the Antarctic Treaty's last meeting called the Golden Princess, run by California-based Princess Cruises, the largest tourist vessel ever to operate in Antarctic water. The paper recommended treaty members bar large cruise ships, but they have not done so.

Princess Cruises spokeswoman Julie Benson said the company has scheduled four more cruises -- two in 2008 and two in 2009 -- aboard the Star Princess, a ship the same size as the Golden Princess.

Benson acknowledged the cruise line does not use ice-strengthened ships in the region, but said it operates under the Antarctic Treaty system.

"We don't believe that (ice-strengthening) is necessary because we cruise in the summer months when it's relatively ice-free, and our ships transit only in open-water areas with very limited ice floes," Benson said.

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