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IT IS A voyage explorers only dreamed of not so long ago.
But thanks to climate change, a luxury cruise ship has undertaken a pioneering journey that will see it sail through the once impassable Northwest Passage during a month-long trip that is drawing much excitement but also criticism from environmentalists.
The Crystal Serenity, which set off from Seward, Alaska on 16 August with nearly 1,000 passengers, is scheduled to dock in New York on 17 September.
The ship made its last Alaska port call on Sunday, stopping in the remote town of Nome before heading farther north, accompanied by the RRS Ernest Shackleton, a British supply and ice-breaking vessel.
The voyage marks the first time a passenger ship this size sails the storied Northwest Passage where warmer temperatures and melting ice are opening the Arctic — one of the most pristine places on Earth — for business.
Passengers on board the €310 million vessel paid between €19,500 and €106,500 for the journey, which took three years of planning and preparation to avoid any mishaps, including a repeat of the Titanic.
Guests were also required to purchase €44,500 in emergency evacuation insurance in order to cruise through the Northwest Passage — a once unnavigable shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that is increasingly becoming a popular route for shipping.
The Crystal Serenity reached the northwest territories on will and complete the Arctic leg of its journey by 4 September before heading to Greenland and finally New York.
“Every aspect of this voyage is literally unparalleled in the luxury cruise industry, and nearly the entire travel industry as well,” Crystal’s CEO and president, Edie Rodriguez, said in a statement.
It is a tremendous undertaking to embark on such a historic journey, but also an honor for us to be able to offer the world’s most discerning travelers the opportunity to experience a region of the world that so few others have or ever will.
He said guests on the 250m, 13-deck vessel can enjoy a slew of activities, including helicopter flights over glaciers as well as polar bear and other wildlife sightings.
Passengers also have at their disposal on board a fitness center, a spa, swimming pools, restaurants and luxury shops.
But not everyone is hailing the high-profile voyage, with critics lashing out at Crystal Cruises and accusing the company of capitalising on the destruction of the planet.
‘An abomination’
An article in the online current affairs magazine Slate offered a scathing review, describing the cruise as yet another example of a consumption-driven society that will stop at nothing.
“It is a historic voyage, one that marks the opening of one of Earth’s last frontiers,” author Will Oremus wrote.
It is also an abomination — a massive, diesel burning, waste-dumping, ice-destroying, golf-ball-smacking middle finger to what remains of the planet.
Elena Agarkova, senior program officer for the World Wildlife Fund, acknowledged that Crystal Cruises had taken measures to offset the environmental impact of the Serenity’s voyage, including not using heavy fuel oil and discharging waste water at least 12 nautical miles from shore.
But she said there were still concerns about safety and protecting wildlife as well as the region’s diverse indigenous communities.
“This voyage is symbolic of the rapid changes happening in the Arctic,” Agarkova told AFP.
Today, we do not have the right rules in place needed to reduce risks to wildlife and people, nor the capacity needed to respond to accidents.
She said that as climate change accelerates and Arctic shipping and leisure travel grows, governments individually and collectively must match that pace in managing the region.
“Cruise ships of the size of the Crystal Serenity are essentially huge cities,” she noted.
“They are going to have some 1,700 passengers, including crew, on board and they are going to be discharging thousands of gallons of sewage and greywater as they sail through the Arctic waters.”
Agarkova said although the waste will be dumped away from shore, it will still be going into the Arctic ecosystem on a daily basis.
“And of course the more ships that we have, the more impact and the more waste will be in these right now relatively pristine areas,” she said.
I find it ironic that one of the biggest selling points of these voyages is to see Arctic wildlife and to see the last frontier.
“And the more people show up to see the last frontier, (the more) the last frontier it will be.”
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It was agreed in a meeting between the HSE and IMO, why didn’t the IMO tell their members?
I will wait for the IMO to come out and explain all this
Ridiculous that GPs can reinstate medical cards. They are hardly objective when treating their own patients and this approach results in the old system of he who shouts the loudest getting a medical card. Or as happened in FF’s time, you simply wrote to a TD to get a medical card.
2 million medical cards in the country. Onwards and upwards from here – let’s make it 3 million !
well done FG/LAB…you have even managed to make GPs look stupid – that’s not a good idea because they are not !
Please Sean just wait, the truth will out.
Great to see that Michael Healy Rae got his degree in medicine …. and he wearing the cap and all …humility on a grand scale !
I call BS, I work for a GP, we certainly have never heard of it….. But I could give lists of cases where people who really need and deserve medical cards are still bein messed about by PCRS…. So Varadkar now resorts to lies, one word comes to mind…. Disgusting…. The whole lot of them should be ashamed of the human cost of austerity forced into our most vulnerable. How many more people will consider suicide like that poor young guy in Galway? It’s really distressing listening to people who are already ill become hopeless in the face of the incompetent stonewalling of the HSE….
Cathy. My GP described this possibility to me last year. If he knew about it, I’m sure that your employer was also told about it.
There are stats on GPs using their reinstatment power…so clearly some GPs did get it. A chat with 50 GPs along the lines of ‘did you read such a letter in 2011-2012?’ does not go anywhere near a representative number of GPs in ireland (rep. about only 2% of them). So obvious some GPs did receive and read the letter…the lack of the latter being the most likely cause of confusion in this case.
My practice staff can confirm that not only could they not reinstate a card once it had expired, but when they telephoned the PCRS they were told that the patient would have to complete another application form regardless of their personal circumstances
We were promised it but it never happened. Another false dawn.
So not 1 gp actually read the agreement? Highly unlikely
Sorry, I can categorically state it was never said to our GP, do you not think that we would have used it for patients with cancer? Or an autistic child? It would have been used if it was policy….
Also, they are giving more discretionary powers to local HSE offices…. That’s the way it used to be done, ridiculous to wrap it up as a ‘new’ measure, it’s nothing of the sort!!!!
You’d swear they were gearing up for an election or something with all these ‘new’ anouncements.
Would GP’s have the same criterias as HSE and people would have to send their GP all the personal info re income and other data to be read? And if unfair dismissal of the card whom should one ask for a revision?
Is there any end to this government’s stupidity, even there “supposedly good news stories” are full of glaring holes and not properly thought out.
get’s broken down in the translation from German to English ….
Michael This does not hold true in the waiting room. Here we all wait and join the queue. If you ring to make an appointment you are given a time but when you get to the clinic you give your name at reception and you join the queue. It does not matter whether you are a private or Medical Card patient. Only Medical emergencies get priority and thankfully that is a rare enough occurrence. But otherwise you wait ….. and wait.
Plonkers!!
That’s given GPs a open check book – hey buddy come 1000 times a year
We are not paid per visit so that argument doesn’t hold up. I can state categorically that it is not possible to reinstate a medical card. I use the HSEs system and it doesn’t have this functionality. No circular came re this. Why would I spend previous time writing begging letters to the HSE if I could just reinstate cards with one click ?????
Point of information. GPs are paid an annual fee for looking after each patient regardless of the number of consultations. We don’t get paid per visit or house call during surgery hours. 2012 OECD data forecasted to 2014 after 2013 FEMPI will show us amongst the lowest earning GPs in the OECD as a proportion of average income. HSE administration amongst the highest earning.
These comments represent all regular GPs inhabiting planet earth. HSE comments must be referring to virtual GPs in satellite clinics.
My mother who is 83 and has very bad Dementia, has had her medical card removed. The forms to reinstate it would stop a qualified accountant in his tracks.
Surely to God Gov. knew this and if not why not. Imagine announcing something already in place whole Gov. should hang their heads in shame. How come Drs that knew about it didn’t say a word when parents came on radio/tv to appeal for help for seriously ill children.
Shame can be spread around on this one.
Do you actually believe government media releases. When were they ever fair or honest regarding GPs? I must commend their ability to produce black propaganda in order to distract attention away from reality.
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