Our ship again

The ship we didn't go to Antarctica on because it had an accident and got damaged was in the news again this week. Clelia II on its way north to Ushuaia, Argentina from the Shetland Islands off Antarctica, was smashed by a 35-foot wave and damaged.

Last January we had to scramble to change our travel plans because Clelia II hit a rock while sending passengers ashore in zodiacs. Travel Dynamics International thought it would be out of service for less than three weeks, but OK for us, so they didn't tell us at first. But the repairs took much longer and they had to move us to the other ship - Corinthian II.

Clelia II is a smaller ship than Corinthian II and its bridge is on the third deck, rather than the forth. A wave smashed a window on the bridge and wetted the electronics, resulting in loss of communications on Tuesday. One crew member was injured, but no passengers. The first reports said that an engine was lost, but that was not the case.

From the reports I can find it appears that communications were restored and Clelia II returned to Ushuaia in good time.

Gadling

See the video. Our ship was in seas as rough - swells up to 10 meters - but no one wave hit with the impact that would smash through a window. I was on the bridge on our return trip when the officer at the wheel told me a wave that put water across the bridge windows (on the fourth deck) was 10 meters.


Photo: Seattle Times. Click to enlarge. Clelia II is 88 meters in length, which is 290 feet.