Do any HAL excursions allow you to step foot on Antarctica?

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, Big Dawg CC said:

As noted, that was January 2020, just before the pandemic.  The new regulations had not gone into effect yet and I have no idea whether they would now even prevent that. 

The rules limiting landings by ships with over 500 passengers were in effect long before 2020.

 

Either the ship was carrying less that 500 passengers or they would have been in violation of the rules.

 

HAL did not seem to understand a number of rules with zodiacs and the Zaandam. The experiment of turning the Zaandam failed in part because they had grand plans of using zodiac in a number of places, including Alaska only to find out that they could not do so.  There was a stream  here on CC where that was discussed.

Edited August 15, 2023 by ldtr

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, ldtr said:

The rules limiting landings by ships with over 500 passengers were in effect long before 2020.

 

Either the ship was carrying less that 500 passengers or they would have been in violation of the rules.

 

HAL did not seem to understand a number of rules with zodiacs and the Zaandam. The experiment of turning the Zaandam failed in part because they had grand plans of using zodiac in a number of places, including Alaska only to find out that they could not do so.  There was a stream  here on CC where that was discussed.

 

Similar to Alaska, they would be unable to operate RIB's in any US Waters, if they were not US Flagged. Even the expedition ships have similar restrictions in Alaska and the US waters of the Great Lakes.

[Guest ldtr]

The 500 passenger limit was agreed to by the signatories of the Antarctic treaty in 2009 in response to the increasing number of tourist visits.  This addition to the Antarctic treaty replaced the same voluntary limits by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators that were in place before that date.

 

There is also another set of rules adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2011 that deals with the type of fuel that must be used in the Antarctic Treaty Area.

 

Both of these predate the more recent rules dealing with Polar ship classes

[TiogaCruiser]

5 hours ago, ldtr said:

The rules limiting landings by ships with over 500 passengers were in effect long before 2020.

 

Either the ship was carrying less that 500 passengers or they would have been in violation of the rules.

 

HAL did not seem to understand a number of rules with zodiacs and the Zaandam. The experiment of turning the Zaandam failed in part because they had grand plans of using zodiac in a number of places, including Alaska only to find out that they could not do so.  There was a stream  here on CC where that was discussed.

I believe it was only the Maasdam that carried zodiacs, as part of their EXC cruise program. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by TiogaCruiser

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, TiogaCruiser said:

I believe it was only the Maasdam that carried zodiacs, as part of their EXC cruise program. 

Yep you are correct.  I mistakenly used Zaandam, but it was the Maasdam that they tried to make an expedition ship.

[NaughtyNanna]

12 hours ago, ldtr said:

The rules limiting landings by ships with over 500 passengers were in effect long before 2020.

 

 

Yes.  On my expedition in 2008, the ship (MV Explorer II) had a capacity of 400, but for Antarctic sailings only 200 passengers allowed.  Interestingly, the previous year, only 4 months before I sailed, another ship also named Explorer had actually sunk in Antarctica after hitting an iceberg.  Thankfully, everyone was rescued and there weren't any fatalities.  Made me a bit nervous about my upcoming trip though!  😟

[Ipeeinthepools]

On 8/15/2023 at 6:56 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

With almost 30-years in command of pax vessels, I probably know more than most where vessels can sail and any restrictions. Don't need to watch AIS positions, especially as I don't pay for the premium service, so I don't get live satellite positions.

You won’t need premium service, the free service will do.  I’ll also let you know in January.  How much sailing did you do around Antarctica?

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

You won’t need premium service, the free service will do.  I’ll also let you know in January.  How much sailing did you do around Antarctica?

 

I'm not aware of any Ground Earth Stations for receiving AIS signals in Antarctica waters, so only satellite positions are possible. I don't know of any free service that provides continuous AIS positions by satellite. If you know of a free service providing 24/7 satellite positions, I am interested.

 

Most of the cruise sites, such as cruisemapper provide 1 satellite position update per day, otherwise it is an estimated position based on route, course and speed. I have found numerous instances where the cruisemapper position was inaccurate when compared to the actual position shown on Marine Traffic.

 

Sailing in Antarctica, fortunately I avoided that region, as it is way too cold for me.

[lyndarra]

23 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

I believe it was only the Maasdam that carried zodiacs, as part of their EXC cruise program. 

Correct.  I recall seeing Zodiacs on Maasdam while on a New Zealand cruise in Feb 2020.

Edited August 16, 2023 by lyndarra
typo