Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The North West passage is an infamous graveyard of ships, where the weather can turn deadly without warning, and floating ice is an ever-present peril. But this arctic track record of disaster is not deterring the owners of the Crystal Serenity, and passengers reportedly paying a staggering $22,000 + per berth, from attempting a daring journey from Alaska to New York starting on August 16th this year.
A new Titanic? US and Canada prepare for worst as luxury Arctic cruise sets sail
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The loss of Arctic sea ice cover, due to climate change, has spurred a sharp rise in shipping traffic – as well as coast guard rescue missions – and increased the risks of oil spills, shipping accidents, and pollution, much to the apprehension of native communities who make their living on the ice.
It’s into these turbulent waters that the luxury cruise ship Crystal Serenity will set sail next August, departing from Seward, Alaska, and transiting the Bering Strait and Northwest Passage, before docking in New York City 32 days later.
The scale of the Crystal – 1,700 passengers and crew – and the potential for higher-volume traffic in the Arctic has commanded the attention of the coast guard, government officials and local communities, all trying to navigate an Arctic without year-round ice.
“If something were to go wrong it would be very, very bad,” said Richard Beneville, the mayor of the coastal town of Nome, which the Crystal is due to visit. “Most cruise ships that get here have passenger manifests of 100, maybe 150. This is a very different ship.”
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Prices for the journey aboard the 14-deck luxury liner start at nearly $22,000 rising to $120,000 for a deluxe stateroom – and this year’s cruise is sold out, according to the company.
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You know what? I wish I had a berth. I can completely understand why the ship is fully booked, despite the risk. The Arctic is beautiful, and utterly alien, compared to more temperate regions. I only visited the Arctic once in my life, a week in Bodø in April. The snow covered mountains, the familiar seaside sights, mixed with the utterly unfamiliar, the sun which hangs just above the horizon for 18 hours, before dipping into a brief twilight, the people, the strange landscape. I would love to see places like Nome, one of the stops on the planned route.
If it all ends badly, as seems a real possibility, at least everyone is embarking on this adventure with their eyes open – unlike the ridiculous ship of fools, the Crystal Serenity owners appear to be taking the safety of the passengers seriously.
There don’t seem to be many lifeboats….
I wouldn’t want to spend any time in a life-raft in those waters.
If you had to take to a lifeboat, it probably wouldn’t be far to shore. However, once there, it would likely be a fair walk — maybe 400km — to the nearest pub.
You could always take a sled like Amundsen did to get to the nearest telegraph office, so that he could let the King know that he had successfully completed the NW Passage (800km).
More than enough; it’s unsinkable.
I wanna know if there’ll be a live orchestra on board.
===============
Live music, yes.
Here is the link to cruise activities. They are even taking a climatologist.
http://www.crystalcruises.com/alaska-cruises/northwest-passage–6319/entertainment
I want to know if the orchestra has learned the song “the morning after”?
Is the climatologist teaching the photoshop class?
Well only up to the time the deck gets too steep for the orchestra to remain seated. They will likely play Handel’s Water Music over and over again.
g
Steve, I reckon the climatologist will be downgraded to “tourist” should they stuck, same as they did with the Ship of Fools (it suddenly was a tourist ship instead of the earlier proclaimed science vessel). I reckon there’ll be plenty of greens aboard too, all ready to dance the CAGW dance should they get through.
Floor plan shows 10 full size tenders, and 2 smaller. Should be fine for 1700 Innuit…
Warmists walk on water, they don’t need lifeboats.
Under investment, by the Canadian and US governments, in ice breakers over recent decades, has left the area with a shortage of resources to cope with an emergency of the scale that this cruise could result in. The nearest suitable vessels, able to provide assistance, are probably those belonging to the oil industry.
Bloke,
Even the oil industry has few (if any) vessels there, as the waters in Prudhoe bay are not very deep and half a year frozen. Most work from shore to production units is done by helicopters, but these can’t fly more that a few hundred km before refueling. That means that large parts of the trip can’t be reached by helicopter. Additionally, in summer most roads – as far as there are – are not passable…
Seems to me that they are taking too much risk with this trip…
All will be well. They will have a climatologer aboard.
When I was a pup and spent time in the arctic, we spent a lot of time listening to the short wave pleadings of arctic adventurers who got into all kinds of trouble. They, and their friends, may have thought they were heros; we had another opinion.
The Canadian Government doesn’t have many heavy icebreakers. None of them are remotely capable of handling 1700 souls for more than a few hours. They have heads (washrooms) and food handling for a crew of about 50. That means the survivors might be better off in their lifeboats. I’m guessing that there might be about 20 helicopters scattered around the Canadian arctic. It would take them hours to get to the scene. A landing strip could be built if the ice were thick enough. Fuel for the helicopters could be tankered in by DC-3 or Twin Otter. If the survivors were ferried to somewhere like Resolute the facilities there would be strained. The available aircraft are mostly used for freight, they don’t have many seats. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a hundred trips. It wouldn’t take much to turn the situation into a logistical nightmare.
Just imagine if they ran out of banana milkshakes. The horror!
or ran out of Gin!
I can imagine their delight, though, when they discover that seal blubber is still gluten-free.
Although they might want to ration the seal meat though, as I don’t know if human tissue has been tested for it.
A Twin Otter….? Oh. Yes that would be large enough to fuel a couple of helicopters.
Helicopters are notoriously thirsty. Here’s one solution to transporting fuel on aircraft the size of a Twin Otter.
The Canadian Government shut down its mid Canada Search and Rescue Centres. Now there is just Victoria, BC on the west coast; Halifax, Nova Scotia on the east coast; and Trenton, Ontario which covers everything from Quebec to Alberta, and the US border to the Arctic. The last time we had a big crash in the North, it took the Hercules S&R crew a couple of days to get there due to weather. I spent a week in Inuvik waiting to fly out on one trip. Days in Yellowknife too. Getting weathered in is common.
Imaging waiting in the North West Passage for assistance from S&R thousands of kilometres away, not knowing if they will even be able to assist you if they get there. That’s life in the Canadian Arctic.
Good thing they have an icebreaker along as S&R up there is more likely to come from exploration companies and locals than from the Canadian government. ( “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” isn’t even a joke up there.)
Nevertheless, I am sure the posts from the ship will be entertaining.
Absolutely. Mind you, a whole bunch of the ‘locals’ work for the Canadian government. Resolute is a logistics hub for various aviation companies plus the Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP). Every year ‘stuff’ happens and we never hear about it because folks just deal with it. Calling in the SAR TECHs is relatively uncommon.
I nobody gets hurt.
hope
The article simply says there will be “an icebreaking escort vessel carrying two helicopters” but gives no further details. If the Crystal Serenity gets into trouble, odds are she will require assistance from one of Russia’s fleet of nuclear icebreakers; the US is down to just a single heavy-duty ice breaker (the Polar Star).
On the other hand, since our military transport helicopters are no longer needed for such things as quick reaction force delivery to besieged embassies, they have nothing better to do than rescue stranded eco-tourists (unless they’re busy taking the First Canine on another POTUS vacation).
Classic Canadianna w/ Stan Rogers
Haunting;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVY8LoM47xI
Rescue?
Probably not gonna happen.
Two years ago we lost Helicopter,pilot and Coastguard Captain of Icebreaker.
Death by hypothermia, because there was no second helicopter to perform a rescue.
Our icebreakers are old, depend on refuelling from auxiliary tankers (if attempting extended tours) as there are very few port facilities in the Arctic.
For a nation claiming Arctic sovereignty we are very poorly prepared.
Russia makes the best icebreakers, including 10 that are nuke-powered. They have become excellent capitalists since the fall of the Soviet Union, and I’m sure they would love to contract with us for a few.
There are actually a few Swedish and Finnish icebreakers powerful enough to be useful. Particularly “Oden” which is the most powerful noin-nuclear icebreaker. That’s the one I would hired as an escort.
I presume the Crystal Serenity will have an indoor sun-deck. The weather can be a little inclement in those places.
I doubt anyone has properly assessed the risk to underwrite this voyage even with the high cost of passage. I also don’t believe there are any pilots with experience or skill for any of the channels and straights. With the variable ice conditions they are certainly going to make it up as they go. I believe the risk is unacceptable. Anyone who would take on this task has more bravado than common sense. This has remarkably high potential for tragedy.
More than one cruise ship has gotten into trouble already. For example the MS Explorer — which was actually designed to handle ice — was lost near Antarctica in 2007. see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/738940/What-can-we-learn-from-Explorer.html and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/738945/Are-we-cruising-for-a-bruising.html
Long, boring, cold, risky.
I’ll stick with the Caribbean, thanks.
My guess too. Based on my trips north of the Aleutians (False Pass/Dutch Harbor to Nome a few times), there is not much to see by ship. If the stop at Nome is a highlight then i’d pass. The ice flows out of the Yukon and minimizing the direct collisions with the big ice in late spring was one of the few entertaining aspects.
(And even at the high latitudes you can get a very nasty sunburn if you fall asleep on top of the wheelhouse).
The real danger of global warming is that the Arctic will be full of rich fools. And they will get indoctrinated about dangers of global warming.
Spose at least they may be able to rescue a few of Al’s polar bears clinging desperately onto the few remaining ice cubes.
Thanks for the post, Eric. While this is interesting news, it is also that great oxymoron called “old news”, as it was covered here on WUWT back in 2014 …
w.
Excellent ref and Article Willis. A good reminder and it will be interesting to see how it turns out. Looking at your post, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see the passengers arriving in New York at JFK from Nome …
The “as seems a real possibility” links to your post Willis 😉
My bad, you are totally correct … you’re just too subtle for me.
w.
I should have made the link to your post more prominent Willis, sorry about that.
Eric Worrall March 30, 2016 at 6:11 pm
No worries, amigo, it’s good to see the work carried forward.
Thanx,
w.
Cruise ships lately have a dismal record in normal sea conditions. Sounds foolish.
Space heaters are extra.
“The loss of Arctic sea ice cover, due to climate change, has spurred a sharp rise in shipping traffic…” Perhaps it is the “sharp rise in shipping traffic” that is a major contributor to “The loss of sea ice”?
I wonder how serene it’s going to be on the Crystal Serenity when the ship’s manifest of modern day, seafaring, Donner party passengers run out of food (after the ship’s been trapped in ice for six months with no rescue) and begin to eat one another?
Well sir, what red wine (which, unfortunately, cannot escape being chilled) do you believe would be a good pairing with that butt roast?
When the winds kicked up and ocean roared with freezing death, the Crystal Calamity was caught in a vise of skyscraper-sized icebergs. The only thing heard above the roar of wind and ocean was the unforgettable screeching straining of metal being torn and twisted in never imagined ways. The water so cold it takes your breath and drops you in its tracks; paralyzed and helpless. Days later the straggling few faced the final twist of fate in this ill-gotten voyage of the Crystal Calamity, the masters of the land, the giants of the Ursidae.
How many “climate” grantees does it take to fill a ship of fools?
I wonder if part of that $22,000+ fare has gone into the purchase of arctic-water immersion survival suits. What good would life jackets be in those waters?
http://www.mustangsurvival.com/recreational/immersion-suits?country=25
SOLAS (Safety of Life At Sea) requires immersion suits unless the ship is restricted to tropical waters. Some 18 years ago, the Long Suffering Mrs. Jewett made a passage with me on the SS SeaLand Producer (23,510 Gross Tons, 32,000 SHP geared steam turbine container ship). The passage was from Long Beach CA to New Orleans LA vial the Panama Canal.
Upon departure from Long Beach, we had the required safety drill. Mrs. Jewett refused to put on her immersion suit because it was “stupid”. (It does make you look like a big orange Gumby.) We “had words”.
I had sailed with a Chief Mate Robert Cusick who had survived the sinking of the SS Marine Electric. The ship had gone down on 12 February 1983, about 30 miles off the coast of Virginia, during a winter storm.
As I recall from hearing his story some 25 years ago.
His story is below, but there are a couple of items that I remember. When it was obvious that they had to abandon ship, he put on ALL of his clothes that he could. They acted like a “wet suit” while he was submerged in the swamped lifeboat. Second, he told us that he could hear his shipmates in the dark, calling for help.
http://web.archive.org/web/20061109120644/http://www.webandwire.com/cold_comfort.htm
http://seamenschurch.org/article/the-sinking-of-the-ss-marine-electric
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Marine_Electric
http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/20/us/crewmen-testify-about-surviving-ship-s-sinking.html
That part of the Arctic may not ever be completely ice free this year. The good ice is all in that area, on either side of the date line. The MSM BS makes it sound like the ice is poor everywhere in the Arctic this year, but that is simply not the case. Only the area that straddles the Prime Meridian has poor ice.
These people are flaming idiots, how in the heck did they make 22,000 $$ pp (and more). If the Canadian government had any sense they would stop this immediately, it is insanity.
I bet some fares are payed for them. You know, climate funding to go out there and prove there’s no ice. Something like that. It would not surprise me at all.
Weeks at sea, stuck indoors looking at ice through a small window except for brief moments outside in the wind until your face freezes off, getting drunk with 1500 other bored passengers. With a meteorologist for entertainment, no less. Sounds like a lot fun to me. Hope the pool is heated.
Will the life rafts be tiny ice breakers?
Maybe ice skates?
I believe the polar bears will refer to them as hors d’oeuvre trays.
Wow. There is just enough time before departure to write a quick novel – the people who signed up, the auspicious beginning and then – OMG – Things start to go wrong!
Imagine if eco-terrorists deliberately disabled the ship, holding the passengers hostage until we all abandoned fossil fuels. The possibilities are endless – the Russians refuse to send their nuke icebreakers until the US (fill in our favorite scenario) – how about gives up all claims to Arctic petroleum resources? Remember, Obama will still be in office.
The fingers are itching. And if things DID go wrong, well, just call me Nostradamus.