Too many serious casualties have happened to the pristine environment of the Antarctic due to the increase of shipping, lack of proper ice seamanship and/or operating the wrong vessel at the wrong time in the wrong area of the Antarctic. This paper will focus upon the regulations of the classification companies, the various areas of Antarctica regarding distribution of sea ice and the possibility of using "near-real time" ice charts with ice routing.
The steady increase in tourism and research activities in Antarctica and the entry into this lucrative market by new cruise ship operators (many of whom have little or no experience in polar operations) poses new threats to the Antarctic environment, the safety of passengers and the continuity of important scientific research activities. The same applies to voyages of resupply and research vessels made under the sponsorship of nations relatively new to the Antarctic community. There are many reasons for serious concern about ship casualties over the last 15 years. Ship accidents in Antarctica can have immediate and uncontrollable consequences for the environment. When cruise vessels are involved the safety of passengers becomes the highest priority. Search and Rescue efforts tie up already limited station assets, and in the case of major catastrophes like Bahia Paraiso, Nella Dan, and Mikhail Somov cause disruptions in scientific activities and the daily routine of a station. Virtually no Antarctic station is prepared to deal with a large scale ship casualty, especially one involving large numbers of passengers. Grounding incidents and sin kings as a result of damage caused by ice pressure are the leading cases of total losses of vessels in Antarctica. Analysis of past groundings (and near groundings) or besetments in Antarctica reveals that these incidents can be attributed to one or more of the following factors:
