Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
While working on finishing the story of my sea voyage last week down from Canada to Oregon, I was surprised to see that there is a new market in the world of marine “eco-tourism”. This one involves burning thousands and thousands of gallons of eeevil fossil 
fuels so that rich folks can make a futile attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage, over the top of the US from Anchorage to New York. In a giant cruise ship. Not this year, not next year, but in the year 2016. Polar cruises of all kinds seem to be hot right now. As a seaman, I think that there are places where no cruise ship should go. Here’s a picture of an Antarctic cruise that went wrong …
Now, as others have commented, I’ll believe CO2 is a problem when the folks who claim it’s a problem act like it’s a problem. But what intrigued me was, how was the Crystal Cruise line going to deal with the fact that there’s a good chance they won’t be able to make it all the way through the Northwest Passage in 2016? Would they issue refunds if they couldn’t complete the trip? Do you get half the money back if they only make it half way?
So I did some research on the Crystal Cruises site, and found a couple of oddities. First, since the cost of the cruise alone starts at $20,000 per person and goes up from there, we’re gonna assume that most contestants will be well past fifty years old … and as a result, subject to a variety of weaknesses of the flesh, including but not limited to dropping dead without prior notice. So on their “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) page, the cruise ship operators put the following restriction on potential cruisees …
Due to the remote locations, emergency medical evacuation by plane from the Arctic regions can reach costs of $50,000 or more. Therefore, proof of a minimum of $50,000 per person in Emergency Evacuation Repatriation insurance is required to participate in this cruise.
Well, that’ll keep out the feather merchants. However, on either the page advertising the 2016 Northwest Passage cruise or their FAQ page, I couldn’t find one word about too much ice. So I dug deeper, and here’s what I found in their fine print that applies to all cruises:
9. Itinerary/Right To Change/Detention: Crystal Cruises reserves the right at its sole option and discretion and that of the Captain of the Ship without liability for damages or refund of any kind, to deviate from the Ship’s advertised or ordinary itinerary or route, to delay, advance or cancel any sailing, to omit or change ports of call, to arrange for substantially equivalent transportation by another vessel and/or by other means of transportation, to cause the Guest to disembark from the Ship temporarily or permanently, to tow or to be towed or assist other vessels or to perform any similar act which, in its sole judgment and discretion, is justified for any reason. SOURCE
Holy moly, talk about signing your life away. Once you’re on their ship, they can do anything they damn well please, including saying they’re going to Tenerife and taking you to Texas instead, or tossing your poor benighted corpus off the ship if they don’t like the cut of your jib.
Oh, if the cruise is cancelled before it starts they’ll refund the ticket, but otherwise? Once the ship sails, they’ve got your money, and if there’s too much ice … tough. They’ll just shorten the cruise, go to Vladivostok instead, and call it good enough. And if you get sick? Pay for it yourself.
Clearly, we’re all in the wrong business …
Best to everyone,
w.
PS—Care to sign up? Do you have $20,000 to spare? Their web site is here, a news story on their crazy-like-a-fox plan is here. To their credit, the journalists do note the irony of burning fossil fuels in order to save the planet from fossil fuels.
The actual temperature of the surface.
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/overlay=temp/orthographic=-336.58,92.90,967
There has been a very lively debate about this foolhardy Crystal Cruises endeavour on a number of LinkedIn maritime forums over the past several weeks with lots more expert opinion. This debate solicited an interesting response from Crystal at http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Crystal-Cruises-Responds-to-Arctic-Concerns-2014-07-30 .
Compare Daily Sea Ice.
http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh?fm=08&fd=14&fy=2012&sm=08&sd=14&sy=2014
That will be a ship of suckers parted from their money.
Comparison of ice half of August 2007 and 2014.
http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh?fm=08&fd=14&fy=2007&sm=08&sd=14&sy=2014
I’m pretty sure I read that there will be another ship shadowing them in case it goes belly up, an ice-breaker.
There is a tourist icebreaker up there – the “National Geographic (NG) Explorer”. Last position
69N 55W (Baffin Bay, W of Greenland) a week ago.
“Oh, if the cruise is cancelled before it starts they’ll refund the ticket, but otherwise?”
Not quite…
http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/crystals-first-expedition-style-voyage-charts-northwest-passage-in-2016.html?nspPage=6
“A 20% initial deposit will be required to secure all bookings, with $500 of the deposit non-refundable.”
Arctic Sunrise (Greenpeace) has made it back to Amsterdam.
50 Let Pobedy was at the N. Pole on the 11 Aug.
Mike (UK) says:
August 17, 2014 at 3:02 am
There are many references to an escort ship in their FAQ at http://www.crystalcruises.com/ContentPage.aspx?ID=191 and http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Crystal-Cruises-Responds-to-Arctic-Concerns-2014-07-30 says
The Northwest Passage (NWP) goes through Baffin Bay, Canadian Archipelago, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) used by Russia goes through Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Eastern Siberian Sea, to Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea.
“During early September 2013 the Russian battlecruiser Petr Velikiy led a flotilla of Russian navy ships through the Russian portion of the Northern Sea Route in preparation for establishing regular patrols. About 400 ships are expected to transit the Russian portion of the route during the 2013 season, up from about 40 during 2012.”
Ihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Sea_Route
In actual fact, with the unexpected ice recovery, only 71 ships crossed the Northern Sea Route in 2013. The NWP did not open at all because of the iced Archipelago.
tty 12:46 – excellent post!
That late in the season bird sightings will be rare. They can expect lots of fog and pretty dreary coast line most of the way.
Here’s the shipping industry’s expectations for this year:
“With the expectation that the northeastern passage bordering Russian will open* in mid-August, and the northwestern passage on the Canadian side will follow soon after, the Weathernews forecasts the NSR will be open almost a full month earlier. GIC simulation models show the route starting to close again in early-October, leaving the route open for about six weeks for ships to sail through the Arctic sea while avoiding areas of concentrated sea ice.”
“According to the NSRA (Northern Sea Route Administration) in Russia, over 400 vessels have applied for permission to sail through the northeastern passage of the NSR as of July 22nd. This shows that the global shipping industry is actively adopting the NSR as an alternative route to longer and more costly routes via canals or around the tip of South Africa. Right now there are already about thirty voyages sailing through the Artic Sea. Due to the risks involved with vessels sailing via the NSR, the need for detailed information on ice conditions has been increasing along with shipping traffic. Based on data analysis and predictions of the Global Ice Center, Weathernews is supporting the shipping industry sailing through the NSR.”
*”Open” is defined as a state (judged to from satellite data) where a vessel can sail the NSR via any passage without hitting sea ice.
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Arctic-Predictions-for-2014-2014-08-11
Last year out of 400 permissions, 71 made the journey. Let’s see what happens this year.
Arctic shipping remains a distant dream for now, transport minister says
All the enthusiastic talk about shipping through the Arctic will remain mostly just that — talk — for the foreseeable future, says Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.
She bluntly offered a list of concerns — including from insurance companies who, she said, are the ones really calling the shots about what ships would be allowed to pass through the area.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/arctic-shipping-remains-a-distant-dream-for-now-transport-minister-says-1.1744751
Hehe. Worth following the antics of these dweebs as they go for the NW Passage challenge… (Canadian taxpayers, you’ll no doubt have to stump up to rescue this ship of fools)
https://www.facebook.com/BluePlanetOdyssey?fref=nf
The Canadian Forces are already preparing for arctic cruise ship disasters:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/08/13/canadian-forces-to-ground-cruise-ship-near-iqaluit-in-10-million-rescue-exercise/
Meanwhile the Russians have had tours on nuclear powered icebreakers and are busy building more. The latest is that they might have to stop the tours because commercial needs are picking up.
http://barentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2014/07/no-more-nuclear-power-arctic-tourists-29-07
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140807/191814028/New-Russian-Nuclear-Powered-Icebreakers-Named-Arctic-Siberia-and.html
Anyone know what finally happened to the ship “Explorer”? I would guess that it sank when the ice melted, but…?
Let’s go on a cruise!
http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/5minute_arguments/to_those_considering_a_cr.php
[Click on the video]
“Seating for the formal luncheon begins in fifteen minutes…”
@ES 8/17 at 6:41 am
She bluntly offered a list of concerns — including from insurance companies who, she said, are the ones really calling the shots about what ships would be allowed to pass through the area.
I think marine insurance has been calling the shots on sea travel for most the past two thousand years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_insurance#History
“Anyone know what finally happened to the ship “Explorer”? I would guess that it sank when the ice melted, but…?”
It sank with no loss of life about 10 hours after striking hard multi-year ice. The ship is on it’s side in the photo surrounded by ice, not supported by the ice.
Somebody had a link to the accident above. That ship completed about 250 cruises in that environment before the accident.
Cheers, Kevin.
tty says:
August 17, 2014 at 12:46 am
I’ve been on a number of ”eco-cruises” both in Arctic and Antarctic waters and I agree with Willy. It is insane taking one of these huge cruise ships with thousands of people aboard into such treacherous waters where rescue capabilities are minimal. ……………………….
Another thing. I’ve often wondered what ordinary passengers do on such cruises. If you are a bird-watcher (like me) or interested in marine mammals there is always something interesting to look at (or at least look for), but otherwise watching the sea for days on end in transit must be extremely dull.
And
Lyle says:
August 17, 2014 at 6:03 am
tty 12:46 – excellent post!
That late in the season bird sightings will be rare. They can expect lots of fog and pretty dreary coast line most of the way.
******************************************************************************************************
Don’t worry they have it all in hand, or have I misunderstood? 🙂
Crystal Cruises Responds to Arctic Concerns
• Additional officers will join the bridge team for the voyage,
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Crystal-Cruises-Responds-to-Arctic-Concerns-2014-07-30
SteveT
Stephen Rasey says August 17, 2014 at 12:01 pm
I think marine insurance has been calling the shots on sea travel for most the past two thousand years.
True
“New Scientist – 2 March 2002
Arctic melting will open new sea passages
Peter Wadhams of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge agrees that the Arctic could soon open up. “Within a decade we can expect regular summer trade there,” he predicts. ”
In my best Don Adams voice Missed it by that much. 😉
Willis,
We had a bet a few years ago about Arctic ice extent, which I have lost. I give permission to WUWT to give you email address so that you can contact me and we can work out how I can pay you. Hopefully, you will read this – I have tried a couple of times through this site to get in contact with you, but have not yet succeeded.
David
@SteveT 8/18 2:04 pm
but otherwise watching the sea for days on end in transit must be extremely dull.
…Crystal Cruises Responds to Arctic Concerns
…• Additional officers will join the bridge team for the voyage,
Morale officers?
Political officers?
Supply Officers?
Officer of the Guard?
Laundry Officer?
Public Relations Officer?
Censor Officer?