Bransfield Strait News

The IMO is on the verge of adopting the Polar Code, something that is important and long overdue. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, is on the verge of adopting the Polar Code. When implemented, it will establish the first mandatory rules for operation of commercial vessels in polar waters. This important step is long overdue. On 18 January 2010, the IMO adopted voluntary guidelines for ships operating in polar waters (Res. A.1024).

An investigation by the Liberian Registry and the resulting Decision of the Commissioner of Maritime Affairs for the Republic of Liberia into the sinking of the passengership Explorer off the South Shetland Islands in November 2007, while on an Antarctic cruise, has concluded that the primary reason for the casualty was a mistaken interpretation by the vessel's master of the nature of the ice he was entering. The Liberian-registered Explorer was on an eighteen-day round-trip from Argentina to Antarctica when it sank on November 23, 2007, 25 miles south-east of Penguin Island in the Bransfield Strait. All 54 crew and 100 passengers abandoned the ship without loss of life or major injury and were rescued by the Norwegian vessel Nordnorge.