Cruise ship to Arctic on pioneering journey

Los Angeles, August 24

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 August 16 with nearly 1,000 passengers, is scheduled to dock in New York on September 17.

The ship is accompanied by the RRS Ernest Shackleton, an icebreaker. 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 most pristine places on Earth — for business.

Passengers on board the $350 million vessel paid $22,000 to $120,000, besides mandatory $50,000 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. — AFP