Polar Explorer Passes On

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday December 1, 2007

By ALEXIS COOPER

THE tale of the modern-day Titanic - the MS Explorer which sank in the Antarctic last week - has as much nostalgia as its 1912 counterpart.

Mt Warrigal resident Wayne Anderson was on the Explorer's maiden voyage 38 years ago and was heartbroken to hear of the ship's demise.

"When I heard the news, it bought tears to my eyes that a ship I love so much is sitting on the bottom of the ocean," Mr Anderson said.

The MS Explorer struck an iceberg last Friday with 154 people on board and sank three days later but, unlike the Titanic, all the passengers survived.

The vessel was originally named the Lindblad Explorer and was the first passenger ship both to travel to Antarctica and to voyage south of the Antarctic Circle.

The Lindblad Explorer was also the first passenger ship to make the journey through the Northwest Passage, the infamous, ice-covered Arctic waters connecting the Pacific and Atlantic.

Mr Anderson was there for it all and said he was devastated by the ship's destruction.

"I just don't understand how the ship sank from hitting an iceberg when it had reinforced bows," he said.

"The Explorer was almost like an ice-breaker, it could handle plowing through the ice.

"I really would like to know what happened."

Mr Anderson joined the ship in 1969 as a deckhand and worked his way up to ordinary seaman and helmsman.

During his time aboard, he occasionally worked the night shift on the lookout for ships and icebergs, using floodlights.

"We went terribly close to icebergs but we never hit, we always slowed up, we always saw them," he said.

His time on the boat was definitely not short of drama.

"In 1970 we responded to a mayday call in the Seychelle islands to see a huge British tanker go under," he said.

"It had ran aground on a reef and broke its back and it was literally spewing tonnes and tonnes of oil.

"Another time there was a fire on board the Explorer and we all had to abandon ship. There was smoke billowing out of the galley, but the evacuation procedures worked without a hitch."

Mr Anderson said his most memorable experience was when the ship reached the Antarctic Circle.

"The Chilean navy were down there with an ice-breaker and they had two helicopters with them. One flew over to the ship and lowered down a small basket which had a bottle of champagne and a letter which read: 'Congratulations to the captain, officers, crew and passengers for reaching the Antarctic Circle'.

"It was just amazing."

Mr Anderson spent his 21st birthday in the Antarctic and said it was the best birthday he ever had.

"I just wanted to see the world so I jumped on a ship ... I never dreamed of being in the Antarctic and seeing this huge wonderland of majesty and beauty."

© 2007 Illawarra Mercury

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