south pole cruise | CRUISE: DISCOVERING THE SOUTHERN POLE IN 2017

CRUISE: DISCOVERING THE SOUTHERN POLE IN 2017



Oceanwide Expeditions is an expert on cruises to the polar sites of the planet and is planning a new trip to the Antarctic Ross Sea in 2017. This polar region is a real challenge for sailors, a dream for the fighters who will have opportunity to reach one of the most extreme points of the globe. Discovered only in 1841, the Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean, in the South Pole. A thick layer of ice forms the Ross barrier, making the area inaccessible at certain times of the year. Oceanwide Expeditions will repeat the feat in 2017 in the company of amateurs. Already in 2013, then in 2015, the cruise line had offered the opportunity to the most curious to reach this extreme region.
116 passengers will have the privilege to board the Ortelius, a Polish ship decked out to tackle the coldest waters. A former working tool of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the steel juggernaut has been converted into a cruise ship for polar voyages.
A 32-day trip
The cruise, which takes the form of an expedition, will leave the South American continent to reach the Antarctic Peninsula. The route includes the crossing of the Arctic Circle, an arrival to the west to the island Peter I, before skirting the ice edge of "deep Antarctic" and finally the Ross Sea. The trip will be completed in New Zealand, after a passage through the subantarctic island Campbell. Only two cruises will be scheduled in 2017, the second one making the itinerary in the opposite direction.
Two helicopters will be chartered to accompany the amateur explorers to reach the most remote sites, such as the refuges of the first men to have discovered the region. Oceanwide Expeditions states that "conditions are the closest to those found on Mars". On the wildlife side, cruisers will catch their eyes, with the royal albatross of Campbell Island or Minke whales and the orcs of the Ross Sea.
A contest was launched at Oceanwide-expeditions.com to win a free cruise. The trip is estimated at more than 25,000 dollars (about 23,300 euros).