Crystal Serenity Goes to Arctic
The cruise ship MV Crystal Serenity, owned by the US-based Crystal Cruises, is scheduled to set sail from Seward, Alaska to New York on a 32 day, 1,500 km journey through the Northwest Passage via Canada and Greenland on August 16 with with 1,000 passengers on board.
The Cruise ship will sail the legendary route 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle, first completed successfully by Roald Amundsen more than 100 years ago.
The wildlife charity WWF has accused Crystal Cruises of putting at risk “the very thing that tourists would come to see” – a pristine wilderness and home to endangered species such as polar bears and walrus.
Crystal Serenity will be accompanied by UK’s ice-strengthened polar logistics and science vessel RRS Ernest Shackleton, for safety backup, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) organization.
“This voyage symbolises the risk of large scale cruise ships operating in the Arctic. The unique wildlife is already stressed by a warming climate and the loss of sea-ice, and the arrival of mega-cruise ships in this part of the world could push it further towards the edge,” Rod Downie, WWF-UK Polar Programme Manager, said.
"It’s because the Arctic is in meltdown that this cruise can take place. This year we saw the sea-ice crash to a record low for June as it continued its downwards spiral. The loss of sea-ice is bad news for Arctic species like polar bears, walrus and narwhal, and for Arctic people,” Rod added.
WWF believes that the risk of an accident in these poorly charted, ice-infested waters is high. There is no effective technology to clean up oil spills in ice, and little infrastructure in place to deal with a major incident.
In a statement, Crystal Cruises said it was taking great care with the sailing. It had been “working on this project since 2013 and will be implementing a number of additional precautions to ensure the safety of all guests and crew, as well as to protect the pristine environment.
“We have taken many extraordinary operational and equipment-related measures to ensure a safe voyage. The typical conditions along the planned route during the Arctic summer are substantially free of ice and within Crystal Serenity’s safe-operating parameters," says the statement.
'We are thrilled to offer intrepid luxury travelers a second opportunity to explore this historical sea passage,' Crystal ceo and president Edie Rodriguez said. 'Given the tremendous response to our inaugural Northwest Passage sailing in 2016, it’s clear that discerning travelers continue to value rare and memorable experiences as much as they prize unmatched luxury.'
This August Crystal will become the largest luxury cruise line to ever navigate the route, maneuvering through 900 miles of waterways lined with glaciers, towering fjords and vast, unspoiled landscapes north of mainland Canada.
