Stranded cruise passengers now on the move

Dozens of British tourists have been stuck on a Russian ice-breaker cruise ship in the Antarctic, although the ship, Kapitan Khlebnikov, is now on the move. For five days the specialist cruise liner has been trapped in a bay close to Snow Hill Island in the Weddell Sea.

Those caught on board included three members of the Frozen Planet BBC documentary team and around fifty other UK cruise passengers. Kapitan Khlebnikov carries 184 passengers and crew and got hemmed in by pack ice on 13th November as holiday makers prepared to visit the Emperor penguins which roost on Snow Hill Island The cruise has been delayed for around four days and is provided by Exodus. Now the company says that weather conditions have improved enough to allow those on board to make the trip to the penguin rookery by helicopter before the cruise ship moves on. It also commented that there had been no threat to the passengers who had been well entertained during the delay. The ship has a pool and sauna as well as a bar and passengers have been able to enjoy a range of talks and other activities during the delay.

A change in wind direction was required to make the pack ice separate so that It should break through the pack ice to open water within the next day and it will then sail Ushuaia in Argentina. Because the trip was scheduled to end on 15th November, Exodus is busy coordinating return flights and travel plans for the overdue passengers.