Up the Pole (The Secrets of Ice Cruising)

For most of my professional career as an officer on cargo and passenger ships, avoiding icebergs has been a fundamental of the job. As Chief Officer onboard Queen Mary 2, for instance, standard policy was to stay at least 20 miles from reported ice. 
My perspective changed suddenly, however, when I joined Lindblad Expeditions’ National Geographic Endeavour and Explorer in Antarctica and the Arctic.

There are enormous differences between navigating a large passenger ship across the Atlantic or around the Caribbean and navigating an expedition ship in Polar waters, and I had to adapt to an entirely different type of cruising, on ships deliberately sailing into ice rather than avoiding it. And, instead of perfectly coordinated schedules planned out a year or more in advance, we adjust our schedule and improvise day by day.
          
As Navigator on Queen Mary 2, I would study and plan routes for future cruises more than a year ahead to ensure the passage was safe and the proposed schedule feasible. We examined the schedule and hours in port to minimise fuel consumption and maximise onboard revenue while still providing a quality experience for our passengers. 

Numerous details arranged in advance needed re-checking. Berths were reserved in ports, longshoremen hired and a whole army of shoreside labour was ordered to meet QM2. Last-minute changes were virtually impossible to arrange.
 
Onboard National Geographic Endeavour, however, last-minute changes are not only the norm but necessary. Sudden changes in weather can alter the conditions at our planned landing, creating potentially unsafe conditions for putting passengers ashore. Ice conditions thicker than expected might mean a planned destination could not be reached, and a new plan would have to be formulated within minutes. Headquarters gives us complete freedom to make, and revise, an itinerary based on our own judgment.

Local knowledge is therefore critical. The quicker the Captain and Expedition Leader can propose alternatives, the more likely it is passengers can go ashore at another location that day. 

Thus the ability to remain flexible ensures delivering an excellent experience for our passengers, no matter the conditions. Flexibility also ensures my job is never dull. Rather than repeating the same route week, I might arrive on the bridge any morning unsure of where the ship might be or where it is heading.
 
In all my sailing before joining expedition ships, I have operated in well-surveyed, deep areas. As evidenced by the numerous groundings of expedition ships in the last few years, however, the Polar regions can be a dangerous place to navigate without proper experience and equipment. 

Large sections of the Arctic and Antarctic are poorly charted, with limited or no information about the sea floor and navigable depths in places. At Lindblad, we use a variety of methods to navigate safely in areas where charts are poor or incomplete.
Primarily, we rely on our old, known routes that we have sailed for many years. If we have passed over a spot once before, we know it is safe to go over it again. We have hundreds of records of past routes and positions, all overlaid with recorded water depths, which form the backbone of our navigation. 

In addition, Lindblad have forward-looking sonar that scans the waters ahead for sudden changes in depth and contour. All ships have an echo sounder that determines the depth of water directly below, but few have this ability to look ahead, enabling us to take the ship cautiously into less familiar regions.

Finally, we also perform our own surveys with a Zodiac and a portable echo sounder. I spend many hours in Zodiacs recording depths electronically by going back and forth across bays or passages. 

Back on the bridge, I upload the data into our electronic chart system. At that point, we know more about the sea-bottom than government hydrographic agencies and can cautiously take the ship into a now-surveyed passage in the future.   
       
Another big difference with the mega-ships is that we also have to be experts in how to observe and approach wildlife. 
When approaching a polar bear in Arctic Svalbard, for instance, I have watched how our Captain crept up it almost imperceptibly. Wind directions, current and even the direction of the light for photography are all factors he considers when making an approach, while naturalists on the bridge help us to read the bear’s reaction.

Moving too quickly or making too much noise could scare the bear away, so we have tricks that show us when the bear might feel uneasy, and we back the ship off to ensure it remains calm and in place. Again, the skill of the Captain or officers and naturalists directly impacts the quality of the experience our guests have.   
       
Approaching whales requires similar skill. While they are not as likely to be scared, we never want to harass them or otherwise change their behaviour. We know how close we can get without upsetting the animals and always approach from an angle where they are aware of our presence. The goal is to allow the whale to make the choice between investigating the ship out of its own curiosity or carrying on as it was before.

Perhaps my biggest challenge, though, was in learning ice navigation. In Antarctica, we would routinely sail past icebergs more than a mile long, while in Arctic Svalbard, our best chance of finding polar bears was within the thick pack ice. I have marvelled at the tremendous variety of ice, from icebergs tall and angular to ones rounded and smooth. Colours vary from a deep blue to a blinding white to perfectly translucent.

While beautiful to look at, ice is, of course, potentially dangerous. Sailing into an ice field, the ship can shake and shudder as ice cracks and breaks apart, and I soon realised not all ice is created equal.
 
Ice only a year old still has salt from the ocean embedded in it and is softer. It is easier, and safer, for a ship to penetrate and break apart this type of ice. In contrast, ice that has lasted several seasons of melting and refreezing has forced the salt out and is denser. This type of ice is potentially dangerous for ships, even if thinner than the younger ice.  Here again, experience is essential for safe navigation. With 20 years of experience in Polar regions, our Captain scans ahead and reads subtle nuances in the ice. Flat, white ice is indicative of softer, first year ice, while hummocky, bluer ice usually indicates harder, multi-year ice.

The Captain also has to factor the concentration of ice, potential dangers from grounding if ice forces the ship off track, currents, visibility and how much power the ship has in reserve when deciding if entering the ice was safe. Despite all the technology on the bridge and the plethora of information on the internet, ice navigation still remains principally a visual art.

Ice can also change rapidly. An anchorage that is ice-free when a landing begins can become choked within an hour if the currents or wind change. Constantly checking the weather forecast is therefore essential. Examining the forecast also allows us to alter our itinerary a day or two in advance to keep us in the best weather to make more landings.
 
In many areas, such as the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, no prudent Captain would consider taking his ship there unless the forecast showed settled weather over a lengthy period. Otherwise, changing weather could potentially trap the ship for days on end.  Even the hotel department faces challenges when operating in Polar regions. Supplies are often limited and delays in shipping can limit what the chefs have to work with. On our three-week expeditions to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica, we have to ensure we stop at the small capital town of Port Stanley to take on fresh produce and, more importantly, fuel for the remainder of the voyage. If weather conditions prevent docking, aspects of the expedition could have to be curtailed.
 
Either despite, or perhaps because of, the additional challenges, I have found the Polar regions more appealing than anywhere else I have sailed. As Chief Officer, I start every day at 3.45am in order to be on the bridge by 4. For the first 15 minutes, I silently curse about being up at such an awful hour. 

As soon as I arrive on the bridge, though, the sight of massive mountains buried under snow and softly glowing in the low light, or the misty blows of whales ahead makes me appreciate the privilege of being in this surreal landscape, far removed from the rest of the world.  Working in Antarctica and the Arctic also gives me an odd bragging right. I figure I spend more time in daylight than just about anyone else. During the summer, I am often in Svalbard where the sun won’t come close to setting. For the winter, we follow the sun south and enjoy days lasting 20 hours or more on a routine basis. Even when the sun does set in Antarctica, it is a long-drawn-out affair, with brilliant colours lighting a sky that rarely completely darkens.  I still find it hard, however, to pinpoint exactly why the Polar regions have such an impact on people. Perhaps it is seeing the grand scope and size of Antarctica; so difficult to grasp until you’ve been there.
 
It may be the inexplicable thrill of watching a polar bear and cubs approach the ship and mentally take stock of the surroundings and the curious sight of our ship.

Whatever emotion the Polar regions evoke, though, our passengers are always deeply affected by their journey to these remote and inhospitable lands.
 
While they may not have absorbed all the nuances of navigation I concentrate on, I know they have come to share my appreciation for the unique and extraordinary beauty.

LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS FACTFILE

Polar Ships: National Geographic Endeavour  (3,132 tons, 124 passengers)
National Geographic Explorer  (6,471 tons, 148 passengers)
Itineraries: November-February, Antarctica, South Georgia, Falklands; late May-August, Norway’s fjords and Arctic Svalbard.

More info: Call (in the US) 212 765 7740 or 1800 397 3348, or visit www.expedition.com. In the UK, call adventure cruise specialists the Cruise Line Ltd on 0800 008 6677.