Cruise Ship To Travel Through The Dangerous Arctic Passage

A cruise ship is set to travel through the dangerous Arctic passage, and vacationers are planning to relive the path of the first successful explorer, Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who traveled the passage in 1906.

According to Business Insider, 1,700 passengers and crew are ready to board the cruise ship, the Crystal Serenity, in August 2016. The largest and most luxurious cruise ship to ever cross the Arctic passage will set sail from Seward, Alaska, and dock in New York City after traveling through the chilly Arctic Ocean.

While it took Amundsen three years to complete the trip, the cruise ship will hopefully sail through the frigid waters in 32 days.

In the past, ice hindered commercial ships from using the Arctic passage often, but climate change has opened up the route; about 200 successful transits of the route have been completed since 2014, according to The Weather Network. Only recently have ships been able to travel through without the use of icebreakers in the summer months.

To prepare for the reality that something indeed could go wrong for the large cruise ship as it passes through the Arctic Ocean, coast guard officials from the U.S. and Canada will train for a cruise ship disaster reminiscent of the Titanic, according to the Guardian. Starting April 13, training will begin to rescue a mass of stranded passengers and crew in the cold waters between the Northwest Passage and the Bering Strait.

Richard Beneville, the mayor of the coastal town of Nome, which the Crystal is due to visit, knows this cruise ship is very different from other ships.

“If something were to go wrong it would be very, very bad. Most cruise ships that get here have passenger manifests of 100, maybe 150. This is a very different ship.”

Experts warn that “less ice” doesn’t mean there will be “no ice.”

The absence of most ice in the Arctic passage will mean that several ships will be in the area trying to make their ways through at the same time as the cruise ship.

“The United States should be getting prepared by building infrastructure in the north,” said Robert Papp, a former coast guard admiral and the State Department’s special envoy to the Arctic. “Yes, we are concerned about this cruise ship going through but we have been concerned for a number of years because during the summer time Shell has been going up there to drill, other companies have been exploring, there has been an increase even in recreational sailors or adventure sailors going up there.”

Not only do the communities in the areas where the cruise ship will be traveling have to prepare for an influx of people, local wildlife may be impacted as well. Native peoples and the World Wildlife Fund worry that an accidental oil spill could damage the sensitive ecosystem forever. Underneath the Arctic Ocean, there are huge reserves of oil that many companies want to tap into while they still can.

The large cruise ship seems to be concerned with its impact on the ecosystem as well. It will use a low-sulphur fuel to impact the environment as little as possible and will travel at slower speeds than normal. The cruise ship will also enact a “nothing overboard” policy, which will ensure that no garbage will go into the Arctic Ocean while the ship travels through it.

The cruise ship Crystal Serenity will sail with an icebreaking escort vessel, and that vessel will have two helicopters on board for added safety measures. Experts like polar bear researchers and veterans of Arctic expeditions will be going along to ensure the cruise ship and its passengers respect the wildlife, environment, and local customs during the tours.

[Image via Shutterstock]