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A New Zealander who worked for the company which ran the ill-fated cruise ship Explorer which capsized in the Antarctic has claimed there were safety issues with other cruises operated by the firm.
On one occasion, panicking holidaymakers abandoned a yacht operated by GAP Adventures in the Greek Islands halfway through a cruise because they were so unhappy about the safety of the vessel, said New Zealand man Daryl Pettus, who worked for the Canadian-based firm.
The Explorer was the only ship GAP Adventures used for cruises to Antarctica.
However, the company also runs tour operations on yachts that are leased from sub-contractors in Athens, Greece.
Mr Pettus said he was employed by GAP Adventures as yachtmaster in the Greek islands in 2006.
"Myself and three other captains expressed serious concerns about the safety status of the yachts we were expected to operate."
On one occasion Mr Pettus said he had all his guests decide to leave a boat part way through the one-week cruise because they didn't have confidence in the safety of the vessel.
"I supported their action and subsequently turned the boat over to the sub-contracting provider in exchange for another boat, which was only marginally better."
The general issue of seaworthiness of the vessels was a constant worry throughout the six-month season, Mr Pettus said.
GAP Adventures spokeswoman Susan Hayes said she would investigate the claims made by Mr Pettus.
But she insisted the Explorer was safe, despite separate claims from Antarctica New Zealand chief executive Lou Sanson that concerns about the ship had existed 10 years ago.
Ms Hayes said the 38-year-old vessel had recently passed all its necessary maritime checks.
Maintenance and upgrade work had been carried out under the supervision of vessel classification society DNV this year. A "passenger ship certification" had been issued by DNV before leaving dry dock in Las Palmas on October 2.
Half of the 154 people who survived the sinking of a cruise ship that hit an iceberg in the freezing waters off Antarctica arrived in Chile yesterday.
Alwyn Frost and Hazel Kitto, both from Dunedin, were among those evacuated from the ship in a difficult night-time operation 24 hours earlier.
GAP Adventures is now making arrangements to fly the passengers to their various home countries.
Seventy-seven of those rescued touched down at Punta Arenas, on the Magellan Strait in far southern Chile, in an Air Force C-130 after spending the night at a Chilean base on the Antarctic island of King George.
"I feel wonderful, very pleased to be alive," said Danish tourist Jan Henkel, 42, alongside his girlfriend Mette Larsen, 29. "Everybody was afraid to die, I think."
The rest of those rescued were still in the Antarctic after spending the night at a Uruguayan base on the island. They would be flown back when the weather allowed, regional governor Eugenia Mancilla said.
The Canadian-chartered passenger ship sank on Friday evening, hours after hitting the iceberg, but all the 91 passengers, 54 crew and nine other employees escaped on lifeboats and were later picked up by a Norwegian boat. Weather permitting, all the passengers were expected to be evacuated from Antarctica by tomorrow.
The Explorer, a Liberian-registered cruise liner chartered by the Canadian tour company, struck an iceberg near the island of San Carlos early on Friday and sank at about 1830 GMT that same day (0730 yesterday NZT).
The Explorer's Swedish Captain Bengt Witman was quoted as saying that when he felt the ship strike the iceberg, he thought it had hit a whale.
The Lloyds List maritime publication said the Explorer, built in 1969, had five "deficiencies" at its last inspection, according to a report on Lloyds' website.
Watertight doors were described as "not as required," and the fire safety measures were criticised. Chilean port inspectors found six deficiencies during an inspection in March, including two related to navigation, it said.
TROUBLED WATERS
Recent shipping incidents in Antarctica
* Sinking of Explorer, November 23, 2007. An estimated 180,000 litres of diesel was onboard.
* Grounding of Nord Kapp at Deception Island, January 31, 2007: Aboard were 300 tourists and 76 crew members. Nearly 700 litres of diesel fuel was spilled in an area frequented by killer whales, penguins and cormorants.
* Grounding of Luybov Orlova at Deception Island, November 15, 2006.
