Summer in the Southern Ocean – 3, We are Sailing…

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31^st December 2023 – 1^st January 2024

We were comfortably bussed from the hotel Arakur to the gangway of MS Seaventure, where we were greeted by our Expedition Leader Hannah Lawson, who was on the Hebridean Sky on our previous visit to Antarctica in 2018. A large, strapping fellow, Kalle, took a picture of us both on the gangway. This was lucky; Kalle is the ship’s photographer, and knew one end of a camera from the other! Both Hannah and Kalle remarked on their desire for us to swap our Hurtigruten jackets for those advertising Polar Latitudes as soon as possible…

Our cabin, 408, was on Deck 4, forward on the port side. Once we figured out that we could stow our empty cases under the bed, there was plenty of space for organising our clothes. One locker was for a full life jacket, a lightweight life vest, which deploys when immersed in water, a full body arctic immersion suit and a pair of ‘muck’ boots each. On top of that we all received a superb red expedition jacket, causing expedition staff to call all passengers ‘red penguins’ when out on shore.

MS Seaventure is allowed to take up to 139 passengers in polar conditions, with a crew of 90. This ship is tiny compared to even the smallest of cruise ships. In fact, this is an “Expedition Ship” – not intended to give the luxury leisure hotel experience, but offering Zodiac tours and landings and kayaking. She is 6,752 GRT (Gross Registered Tonnes) – a titch compared with the biggest cruise monstrosities at well over 100,000 GRT.

Built in 1990 in Japan, she has the highest available Ice Class, E4, which is reassuring. The restaurant is the full width of the ship, 17m, allowing pleasing daylight and sea views while munching breakfast and dinner. Curtains have to be closed at dusk, as any light spillage could attract birds that could be disorientated and come to harm.

The social hub is the lounge, on the deck above. Here, Randy is the music master. He entertained us in 2018, especially by mixing in various topical words into songs, like ‘life jacket’ into the song from Titanic… A large Panorama Lounge is located on deck seven, above the Bridge. This is where lectures and presentations take place, including mandatory safety briefings.

To complete the passenger side of the ship, a small, but functional gym offers superb views over the passing oceans while on the treadmill or pumping iron…, a sauna offers the promise of warming up after a freezing outing, a ‘citizen’s science centre’ and a clinic to deal with minor injuries. What happens to passengers with major injuries, while in really remote locations??? Ahh – that is why there is a large “H” on the very top deck – room for a helicopter to land.

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Deck seven sported a swimming pool, unsurprisingly not filled with water. Not quite the weather for lounging by the pool, while icebergs float by… nor environmentally friendly.

Once onboard the MS Seaventure, we were not given much time before essential safety routines had to be performed. Lifejackets donned, we assembled at our Muster Stations, getting to know those passengers we would share a lifeboat with…

We were allowed a little time before being called up to the bar lounge for the crew introduction. The ship’s officers, the expedition crew, the housekeeping and the restaurant staff all presented themselves to the passengers in a light-hearted and jovial manner. Interestingly, most senior ship officers were from Croatia, but, not surprisingly, most restaurant staff were from the Philippines.

There was a really good feel in the lounge at that time. Fingers crossed, it presaged a happy journey.

As the year was hurling itself to its end, we read all the Happy New Year greetings from time zones well ahead of us – Pat and Aileen in Sydney (14 hours ahead) and Kirsten and Chris in London.

We enjoyed our New Year’s Eve feast unperturbed by worries about seasickness as the weather was too windy to leave the harbour until nightfall.

Randy was excelling himself on the guitar and keyboards, and some of the more crazy passengers, encouraged by the free bar, (who…???) danced their way through the ‘Fin del Aňo’ and sang Auld Lang Syne.

Happy New year!