Nothing beats the sight of a deserted shipwreck.
All of them have a story to tell, and they were all abandoned a long time ago, waiting to be taken by the sea. The German MS World Discoverer is one such wreck.
During development, it was known as the BEWA Discoverer, and after completion in 1974, it was sold to BEWA Cruises in Denmark. After two years, Adventure Cruises Inc. purchased the ship and renamed it World Discoverer. The ship began a long-standing relationship with Society Expeditions after being listed in Singapore.
The ship began conducting cruises throughout the Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, and the South Pacific Islands, as well as the Alaskan region and all the way to the Russian border, under the command of captain Oliver Kruess.
The cruiser’s double-hull structure allowed passengers, particularly on journeys around Antarctic polar territories, to observe ice flow movements while protecting them from minor collisions. A small expedition group was qualified to answer any tourist questions about the regions and destinations visited. The team included aquatic biologists, scientists, geologists, and historians who participated in two to three shore excursions per day, depending on the course.
The ship was fully equipped, including a small swimming pool, a health center, a lecture auditorium, a library, an observation room, and a medical center staffed by a doctor. Small dinghy boats were also available for tourists to dock on specific shorelines and observe the local vegetation and fauna.
The ship’s range was 8,100 miles, allowing the Discoverer to travel on the Northwest Passage and be the first to do so.
The World Discoverer was given new management and a new name in 1987. Discoverer Reederei, the new owner, also owns other cruise ships, including the MS Explorer. The Discoverer was relocated to Liberia in 1990. In 1996, the boat was completely rebuilt and renamed after its previous owner.
The World Discoverer cruise ship crashed into an undiscovered reef in the Sandfly Passage, Solomon Islands, on Sunday, April 30, around 4 p.m. local time, 11 days before its scheduled yearly maintenance. Captain Kruess quickly sent a distress signal, which was received by Honiara, and in order to keep the boat from sinking, he was forced to steer it into a shore in Roderick Bay, which is now the ship’s final resting place.
All 99 passengers on board were safe and were transported to safety by a passenger ferry. The boat, however, could not be saved and remains there, shifted on its side, to this day. Salvage organizations in Australia attempted to recover the ship. Nonetheless, they arrived too late because the boat was looted for equipment by locals during the Solomon Islands civil war. Tidal activity in the bay accelerated corrosion and decay on the ship’s structure and exterior.
Today, it is a popular tourist attraction, still standing in that very place, waiting to sink under the water inevitably. It can be seen on Google Maps.
Photo and article source:
http://antarctica.greyfalcon.us