The Explorer

History warns against the Maiden Voyage.

We join the Explorer on her first trip to Antarctic waters. Another Explorer, the hardy red ship that began tourist travel to the Antarctic in the Nineteen-Sixties, was also the first ship to sink in Antarctic waters. Which it did almost one year ago today in a location very close to where we are now.

But our ship is no stranger to polar conditions. She began her life as a Norwegian ferry above the Arctic Circle, before her purchase, gutting, reinforcement and renovation. The Explorer is elegant in design and performance. Her stabilizers, two underwater wings that extend 15 feet beyond the ship, eliminate the port-starboard motion. 6000 gross tons, over 300 feet long, she carries with her 90 passengers and an equal number of crew. Captain Skog says she is in the prime of her life.