Of Penguins and Polar Bears E-Book

Christopher Wright

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 294

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

We have been cruising and exploring polar waters since the nineteenth century, but very little has been written about them. Drawing on expert research, Of Penguins and Polar Bears seeks to rectify this, and looks at activity in both the Antarctic and Arctic waters – the homes of the penguins and the polar bears – to provide insight into how the passenger trades developed in these regions. With over a hundred stunning pictures, this is a must-have gazetteer for anyone thinking about cruising the Earth's 'last frontier'. From William Bradford's cruise to Greenland in a seal-hunting boat in 1869 to the newest builds of the twenty-first century, let Arctic expert Christopher Wright take you on a journey through lands less travelled.

Leseprobe

The book has been written with help from Kevin Griffin, Managing Director, The Cruise People Ltd, London (UK)

Cover illustrations:Front: Poster advertising travel to Spitzberg, Norway, c. 1931 by Albert Sébille. (Christie’s Images)

Front Flap: Magellanic penguin. (Courtesy Falkland Islands Tourism)

Back: OneOcean vessel (David Sinclair, courtesy OneOcean Expeditions)

Black Flap: Polar bear. (Roger Pimenta, courtesy OneOcean Expeditions)

First published 2020

The History Press97 St George’s Place, Cheltenham,Gloucestershire, GL50 3QB

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

© Christopher Wright, 2020

The right of Christopher Wright to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN978 0 7509 9057 8

Typesetting and origination by The History Press

Printed in Turkey by Imak

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

CONTENTS

Foreword by Robert Headland

Foreword by Philip Dawson

Introduction

The Arctic

The Antarctic

Polar and Expedition Cruise Ships

1: Development of Polar Cruising

Introduction

Polar Cruising Before the First World War

The Interwar Years

Post-War Extravagance

The Lindblad Model

The Russians are Coming!

Today’s Fleet

The Future

2: Polar Cruising Destinations

Alaska

Antarctic and South Shetlands

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Falkland Islands

Canadian Arctic

Greenland

Iceland

Faroe Islands

Svalbard Islands

North Pole Cruises

Nordkapp

3: Arctic Passages

The Northwest Passage

The Northern Sea Route

4: Operators

5: Safety

Cruise Ship Incidents in Polar Waters

Ice Class

6: Regulations

IAATO

ATCP

CCAMLR

AECO

National Regulations

Appendix 1: Past and Present Polar Cruise Ships

Appendix 2: Cruise Passenger Activity at Major Polar Destinations

Appendix 3: Ships that have Carried Tourists to the North Pole

Appendix 4: Passenger Ships that have Undertaken a Northwest Passage

Appendix 5: Passenger Fare Currencies and Present-Day Equivalents

Appendix 6: Known Cruise Ship Incidents in Polar Waters

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

FOREWORD

Robert Headland, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge

Of the several ways people present in either polar region may be described, those visiting as tourists are a major division. Considered in absolute numbers in any year, mainly during a summer (boreal or austral), they form the largest number of people in Antarctic regions and become a major component of the Arctic population. In contrast, their proportion of time measured in person days is minimal, barely reaching 1 per cent in the Antarctic and far less in the Arctic. This book presents a detailed and comparative study with analysis of tourism in the regions of polar bears and penguins. It coordinates aspects of the many subjects involved: history, geography, navigation, companies and commerce, and even anthropology (but only for the Arctic). While ships transport the majority of tourists, attention is also given to aircraft and, in some circumstances, a combination.

From the late 1990s, tourist visits to both polar regions have vastly increased, resulting from several factors. Those that might have been expected include: improved accessibility, much better public awareness and information, environmental concerns, and their being regarded as ‘safe places’ compared with many more politically unstable regions of the Earth. Unexpected factors also had strong influences on polar tourism, notably the abrupt availability of Russian ice-class vessels and removal of restricted areas in the Arctic rapidly following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Things deemed almost incredible only a year previously became practicable. Trade and commerce reacted promptly to the supply and demand fluctuations.

One of the several contemporary coincidences was the formation of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) in 1991, which progressively developed procedures, regulations and guidelines for that region. A dozen years later, in 2003, the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators was founded that similarly introduced principles for member operators throughout the more frequently visited parts of the Arctic. From their establishment both organisations had rapidly increasing numbers of members (many belonged to both) and became coordinated, although informally, with governance of the polar regions. The objects of these organisations included not only coordinating shipping schedules to avoid encounters at the same location, but also preparing codes of conduct for avoiding adverse environmental effects and encouragement of favourable interaction with settlements, bases or similar habitations. Many principles are comparable but the political differences between national Arctic territories and the Antarctic Treaty region necessitate distinctions.

Details and discussion of these substantial and recent developments, with their historical precedents, form the subject of this very comprehensive book. Such a study is timely when polar tourism is evolving rapidly at a period when demand is strong, resulting in the construction of many new polar vessels. As well as changes from climatic variation and reduction of ice cover generally there are things considered appropriate such as fuel, engine design, victualling, passenger access ports and other facilities to analyse and estimate what future constraints they might impose. Increasing maritime traffic in Arctic regions is similarly to be anticipated, noting that tourist vessels are but one of several components.

Obtaining details of such a diverse industry involving many countries, companies and locations is a difficult task. This is achieved by the author by including a large range of information in appendices giving details of vessels, companies, voyages to specific locations and a compilation of noteworthy incidents. These include data from the earliest days of polar cruise tourism until present circumstances.

The reason why tourists are increasingly enthusiastic to visit both polar regions are several, general and particular for individuals. The magnificent scenery, highly adapted flora and fauna, historical remains, and stations and settlements appeal to virtually everyone, but personal acquaintance, political aspects, souvenirs (notably philatelic) and having been personally present in some of the most remote parts of the planet are additional factors.

Tourism to both polar regions continues to flourish and this book provides a very practical basis with which to understand its origin and development, thus providing basic data for assessment of its probable future.

Robert Headland,Cambridge, August 2019

FOREWORD

Philip Dawson, AssocRINA

This is a fascinating book that in effect takes us around the world vertically from pole to pole in an extensive and varied look at cruising in the globe’s Arctic and Antarctic waters. Steamship excursions into polar waters and to their surrounding lands first gained popularity early in the liner era during the latter decades of the nineteenth century. The compelling natural beauty of these oft-intemperate regions, themselves polarised by their own sharply contrasting seasons of formidable winter darkness (save for the phenomenal beauty of the Northern Lights) and the summer season’s languid around-the-clock lightness, are ever a source of great fascination to those of a scientific turn of mind as well as to the curiously minded and adventurous world traveller.

For the great majority of us, those without the credentials, or indeed the opportunity, to join any sort of academic or scientific excursion into Earth’s polar regions, a scheduled commercial shipboard voyage continues, even now, to be our only practical way to see these otherwise largely inaccessible regions, their unique geography, fauna and flora, for ourselves.

Thankfully, the great beauty of our polar regions still remains largely unspoiled, or at least more so than many other holiday and cruise destinations. As a fellow passenger said to me during a cruise to Spitsbergen aboard Europa a number of years ago, ‘This is one of the few chances we still have to know something of the world’s natural beauty as God created it.’ Yet, on the other hand, climate change has now made the Northwest and Northeast Passages more open to navigation in the Arctic summer months. As the author explains, polar cruising has now become a distinct speciality in the global cruise industry, with purpose-built modern ships specifically designed for service in polar seas with ice-strengthened hulls and equipped to land passengers in places where there are no piers or landing stages. A number of former Soviet Arctic icebreakers have also been adapted for polar cruising. Beyond the basic home comforts of early ships such as Nascopie and St Sunniva, today’s polar seas cruise passenger now also enjoys much the same luxury and service of larger cruise ships in mainstream Mediterranean, Caribbean and worldwide cruise markets. Polar expedition cruising is now considered by many to be a last frontier of cruise holiday development.

This book, to the best of my knowledge, is a unique treatment of passenger shipping in the domain of polar bears and penguins, as a literary travelling companion; a historical guide, gazetteer, companion and general reference resource. The story of expedition cruising from 1869 to the present day tells of a great diversity of ships, their owners and operators, of places and people, some well known and others far less so, that have influenced travel in these waters.

There is a comprehensive gazetteer of places in the polar regions where cruise ships call, with geographical information including climate, fauna and flora. There are also sections covering cruise operators, ships and fleet lists past and present, and future ships as of 2019, fares, regulations, safety and even a list of cruise ship incidents in polar waters. While one hopes that incidents such as these are less likely to be repeated, it is perhaps good to remind ourselves that there are still risks in these waters – perhaps in reality that’s all still part of the adventure.

If, like the author, you are involved in the shipping industry, or perhaps you are planning to travel in polar waters or to relive past excursions, or perhaps like me, you are now an armchair traveller, relax and enjoy the voyage of your dreams by way of this fascinating book.

Philip Dawson, AssocRINAToronto, June 2019

INTRODUCTION

This book is about cruising in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, how and where it developed, and what has attracted people to these remote parts of the world. It starts with William Bradford’s cruise to Greenland in the Newfoundland sealer Panther in 1869 and traces polar cruise activity from the first North Cape cruise by Thomas Cook in the President Christie in 1875 through the interwar period to the present day, with a chapter on where expedition cruising is going in the future. While polar cruising was sustained by large vessels up until the 1990s, largely on a sightseeing basis, the availability of Russian research ships as expedition cruise ships enabled this sector of the industry to offer a wide range of experiential cruises. In terms of destinations and activities, north of 60°N and south of 60°S are considered as being of a polar nature. The history of each region is reviewed, and up-to-date and comprehensive statistics are provided for each destination.

In brief, the Arctic can be considered as an ocean surrounded by land, while the Antarctic is a continent surrounded by an ocean. Each has different attributes, with the Antarctic ‘brand’ being penguins, while that of the Arctic is the polar bear.

The Arctic

Indigenous peoples have occupied almost all the lands that surround the Arctic Ocean, and the North Pole, for thousands of years and sovereignty is well established. The region also has a strong European history associated with sealing, whaling, resource extraction and attempts to use Arctic passages as a shortcut between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

The climate varies between the relative harshness of the Canadian Arctic islands, except during the short northern summer, to much milder temperatures in Iceland, Scandinavia and northern islands due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. This difference affects the flora and fauna of the different regions, as well as the history of cruise tourism. Depending on location, in north polar destinations the shipping season is generally between May and October, although Norwegian fjords are moving to a year-round cruise presence.

Map of the Arctic region.

Polar bears. (Robert Serrini, courtesy OneOcean Expeditions)

Different parts of the Arctic region have different attractions. For the Canadian Arctic Islands and the Northwest Passage, it is mainly the history associated with Franklin and his two ships, Erebus and Terror. Greenland is the home of ancient Norse settlement, while Svalbard markets itself as the home of polar bears, although its early attraction was for hunting reindeer. Iceland offers extraordinary scenery due to its volcanic nature. Nordkapp, at the northern tip of Norway, attracted early cruise passengers because it was seen as the end of the Earth, and they could travel there to see the midnight sun.

Because of the climate, there is a wide range of land animals, birds, whales and seals. While some are panarctic relative to their habitat, many have specific regions where they can be found during the cruise season. The Canadian Arctic Islands and Greenland and intervening straits are particularly prolific in terms of different species.

The Antarctic

This is a region where there has never been settlement, until Europeans arrived seeking seals and whales. The Antarctic continent is a forbidding area with an ice cap up to 4km thick, together with many associated islands. The region is under international agreement relative to access, exploitation and long-term residence. Mainly, the continent itself and islands in the Southern Ocean have research stations that date back to the International Geophysical Year of 1957, which had a focus on the Antarctic; cruise tourism is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Apart from a short period during the southern summer, which is generally taken as mid November to early March,1 the region ranges from cold to very cold; there is no ameliorating influence like the Gulf Stream. The island groups that surround Antarctica are, generally, the tops of submerged mountains, and only the Falkland Islands have a permanent population. Historical locations are limited and mainly associated with expeditions to the South Pole by explorers such as Shackleton. However, much of this history is inaccessible to visitors from ships, although Shackleton’s grave in Grytviken on South Georgia is frequently visited. Unlike the Arctic, fauna is almost exclusively avian and marine, and dependent on the ocean resources; the flora is also much less diverse.

Wildlife, typically visits to penguin colonies, is a major draw for visitors. There are five penguin species that make their homes on the Antarctic continent and immediate islands; another four nest on neighbouring islands, while one species – the Royal – is limited to Macquarie Island. See chapters on different destinations for more details. There are estimated to be about 100 million birds of many different species that make their homes in the Antarctic islands, the most notable being the albatross on South Georgia, and the southern giant petrel, with breeding pairs on many of the islands. After being hunted almost to extinction, fur and elephant seals have made dramatic recoveries and while whales are far from numerous, numbers are slowly increasing and blue, sperm and humpback sightings are more frequent, as are the ubiquitous orca.

Map of the Antarctic region.

Penguins. (Ben Hagar, courtesy OneOcean Expeditions)

Polar and Expedition Cruise Ships

Prior to the arrival of the first true expedition cruise vessels in the 1970s, most ships that cruised to polar destinations were deployed from other routes for off-season travel. Up to the Second World War, accommodation on these ships was typically first, second and third class, and/or steerage, which was dormitories for emigrants. Passage for emigrants2 from Europe to the Americas and Australasia was a major part of the business for ocean liners, but it did present some problems regarding ship occupancy. Although demand was strong through the 1920s, it occurred primarily in the spring on the North Atlantic on east to west sailings, and winter heading to the Antipodes. There was almost no use for steerage from west to east on the Atlantic, or at other times of the year. To compound shipping company occupancy problems, first class on the North Atlantic was, typically, booked by wealthy Americans heading to Europe in the spring for a summer of touring, then returning in the autumn. Thus occupancy was low during the summer period and to maintain revenue ships were often deployed on cruises. However, the strictly segregated classes, which had separate facilities and areas of the ship, made them less than ideal for such a role. Also, the optics of second class created issues for some lines in selling the cabins.

Montclare in the Norwegian Fjords, 1930s. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

Hamburg-Amerika Linie Meteor in a Norwegian fjord. (Courtesy Hapag-Lloyd AG, Hamburg)

After the First World War, some lines, of which Canadian Pacific (CP) was an early adopter, introduced cabin class, which combined first and second class into a single class that was priced slightly higher than the old second class, but provided first-class service. The next class was usually tourist, and then third class (which never had the same connotation as second class). As an example, the 1921-built CP liner Montclare had accommodation for 520 cabin, 278 tourist and 850 third-class passengers. The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) liner Lafayette delivered in 1930 had accommodation for 583 cabin, 388 tourist and 108 third-class passengers. Both of these ships cruised to the Norwegian fjords and Spitsbergen.

As can be appreciated, these ships were relatively large, and it was such vessels that dominated polar cruising for a century. It was not until the 1990s, when the repurposed Russian research ships became available, that polar expedition cruising, as it is understood today, became a recognisable component of the growing cruise industry.

From the 1890s onwards, the equivalent of expedition cruising was yachting cruises. For example, the Thomas Cook publication Excursionist and Tourist Advertiser contained a yachting cruise section with advertisements such as: ‘Orient Company’s Yachting Cruises to Norway’ and ‘SS Victoria Yachting Cruises’. P&O promoted the Vectis with the tag line: ‘Summer Cruises to Norway, Spitsbergen and Baltic Capitals by the P&O Cruising Yacht Vectis’.

Even as late as the 1950s, Cunard referred to the Caronia as having a yacht-like atmosphere, despite being 34,000grt. Expedition ships, some of which continue to promote their yachting ambience, have not yet reached that size, but Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot ice-breaking expedition ship, at 30,000grt, will be close.

The opening chapter of Philip Dawson’s magisterial Cruise Ships, an Evolution in Design, published in 2000, discusses the early cruise yachts, while the penultimate chapter is subtitled ‘Ascending Towards the 20,000 ton Yacht’. In his examination of future developments, Dawson quotes Wartsila’s Kai Levander from a 1982 paper:

The cruise market today shows an evident gap and demand for high class cruise vessels for 50–200 passengers. Some people find the existing bigger cruise liners too crowded, or the ports visited uninteresting and spoiled by excessive touristic exploitation.3 On the other hand, the yachts that can be chartered and taken to unspoiled islands do not offer the comfort, service and safety that many passengers wish to have. Today there is great interest in both sailing and motor cruise liners in this gap between the big and the small.

These comments are as appropriate today as they were nearly forty years ago, and while some ships that can be considered as cruise yachts have been delivered since 1982, it has taken until the recent explosion in polar expedition cruise ship orders for the predicted 20,000grt cruise yacht to emerge. The 200-passenger, 19,800grt Crystal Endeavour class and the 264-passenger, 23,000grt Seabourn Venture class may represent the realisation of Dawson’s expectations.

Hamburg-Amerika Line’s Meteor demonstrates the classic yacht lines, but until the arrival of the Lindblad Explorer in 1969, only four ships, the St Sunniva (1887), Prinzessin Victoria Luise (1900), Meteor (1904) and Stella Polaris (1927), had been built specifically as small cruise ships. Three other ships were converted to similar yacht-style cruise ships; these were St Rognvald (1888), Prins Olaf (1926) and Ariadne (1957). A decade later, the Italia, later Ocean Princess, was a somewhat larger cruise ship that still demonstrated a yacht-like profile. They offered itineraries similar to larger vessels, such as Norwegian fjords, Spitsbergen, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Islands. Some did undertake the occasional longer northern cruise that included Iceland and they did have tenders to take passengers ashore, but unlike today’s expedition ships they did not offer unique destinations that could be considered equivalent to today’s itineraries. Their role was to offer a yacht-like cruising ambience and, except for the Ariadne, were very successful. The Ariadne may just have come to market too early, and might have succeeded if the focus had been on the American market, as Europeans, in the late 1950s, were still recovering from the aftermath of the Second World War, and those that did have the money to cruise were more interested in southern destinations. The Ocean Princess did undertake both northern and southern cruises during its short life, taking advantage of tenders installed after its 1983 refit.

Early Yacht-Style Cruise Ships

The impact of Russian research ships on expedition cruising can be judged by ship visits to Antarctica, where there has been a concerted effort to track activity. Through the period from 1950, passenger numbers were minor, except for the 1974/75 season when several large ships sailed through the region. During the late 1970s and until the 1986/87 season, when the Illiria joined them, there were just two ships offering Antarctic cruises, the Lindblad Explorer (after 1985 Society Explorer) and the 1975-built World Discoverer. Then in the 1988/89 season, Lindblad chartered the Soviet passenger ship Antonina Nedzhanova, and that season five ships undertook twenty-one cruises, with an average of 117 passengers per trip. A decade later twenty-one ships carried out 154 cruises. By the 2017/18 season, thirty ships had carried out more than 300 cruises where passengers were landed, and large ship activity, where passengers are purely sightseers, was a well-established annual event after being an occasional activity.

Large ships have continued to be the major participants in northern polar regions, dominating calls at the North Cape, Spitsbergen, Faroe Islands and Greenland. Expedition-style ships participate, but are relatively few in number. There is some expedition-style cruising within the Svalbard Islands, as well as Iceland circumnavigation itineraries. Falkland Islands fees favour expedition ships that call at one or more of the many islands that make up the archipelago, although Stanley does see a good number of large ships on both Antarctic and non-polar voyages. The Canadian Arctic, probably because of a time-consuming permitting process, only receives around ten ships per year offering about twenty cruises, including two to three Northwest Passages each season, although these numbers do depend on ice conditions. The region is ideal for expedition cruising, and may develop further if a resolution can be found to the complex permitting process. Numbers and activity to all destinations will probably change in the future as there are thirty-eight ice-classed expedition ships on order and due for delivery between 2019 and 2022. Most ships are under 300-passenger capacity, and range in size from 5,000grt to a remarkable 30,000grt.

In looking at expedition cruising as a component of polar activity, we have adopted the convention that expedition ships carry 30-500 passengers.6 This is done to distinguish such ships from mega yachts, which may carry up to twenty-five persons all told. Vessels over 500 passengers are considered cruise-only and generally do not land passengers. Historically, the upper limit of expedition ships was probably established by the Ocean Princess,7 which at the time IAATO was established was the largest ship to tender passengers ashore in the Antarctic. Chapter 1 traces the development of polar cruising from large liners on summer duty to the smaller dedicated expedition ships today. Details of ships known to have cruised to polar destinations are provided in the Appendices.

1

DEVELOPMENT OF POLAR CRUISING

Introduction

In 1856, Lord Dufferin (who was later to be a major figure in the British colonial service) took his schooner yacht Foam1 on a trip from Oban, Scotland, via Stornoway in the Orkney Islands, Iceland, Jan Mayen Island, Spitsbergen to Copenhagen. The lighthearted account of his three-month voyage was published in at least five editions, some of which were illustrated, and translated into French and German.

The Panther off Greenland in 1869. (Courtesy New Bedford Whaling Museum)

The account had a major impact on the perception of the Arctic, changing it from the forbidding ice-bound region suggested by Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated voyage of 1845, to something much more benign. The gentleman travellers of the late nineteenth century now saw it as quite accessible, and many took their yachts to Spitsbergen on exploration and hunting trips.

In 1869, William Bradford, a Boston artist with a keen interest in the north (he had spent six summers sailing the Labrador coast) determined to go much further into the Arctic. In the foreword to his remarkable book The Arctic Regions, he states:

In this connection, a perusal of the History of the Grinnell Expedition by Dr. Kane and Lord Dufferin’s ‘Letters from High Latitudes’ made so powerful an impression that I was seized with the desire, which became uncontrollable, to visit the scenes they described and study nature under the terrible aspects of the frigid zone …

However, he estimated that he needed some $20,000 to mount such a trip to Greenland, and as an artist he did not have that kind of ready money. One of his patrons, LeGrand Lockwood, offered to provide the funding, but Bradford went further and advertised for gentlemen to join his voyage; some did at $1,000 each. Bradford retained the Arctic explorer Isaac Hayes to advise on the trip, and join the ship as an on-board expert, for a fee of $1,500.

The voyage had the sole goal of sightseeing for art’s sake. The company took excursions to places such as the Viking remains at Hvalsey, had a picnic on a glacier and made other side trips. It can reasonably be considered the progenitor of both polar and expedition cruising. In fact, as a result of a letter from Isaac Hayes to James Gordon Bennett Jr, publisher of the New York Herald, the paper published an editorial on 8 September 1869 that stated: ‘We do not see why the project of Mr. Bradford and his friend Dr. Hayes to inaugurate regular summer excursions to the Arctic Regions may not become practical and popular, with steamers properly equipped for the purpose.’

The ship that Bradford chartered was the New Brunswick-built, but Newfoundland-owned, ice-strengthened sealer Panther, part owned by John Bartlett, its captain. The ship departed St John’s at 10 a.m. on 3 July 1869 and called at Julianhavn, Sermitsialik Glacier, Ivigtut, Upernavik and Tasiusaq, managing to get to 75° N before being stopped by ice. They returned via Melville Bay, Disko Island and Godhavn, then back to St John’s, some three months later.

Expedition cruising then moved across the Arctic to Nordkapp in Norway in 1875, when Thomas Cook took twenty-one excursionists on the President Christie2 to view the midnight sun. Then one Henry Clodius chartered the Pallas in 1881 and embarked about thirty intrepid vacationers for Spitsbergen after they had answered advertisements in hunting magazines, including The Field, that promised polar bear, seal, walrus and reindeer hunting.

These, and later voyages by smaller ships on unique voyages, set the tone for polar expedition cruising. Today, such ships still carry a relatively small number of passengers, but range from quite simple accommodation, sometimes with shared facilities, to opulent suites on some of the forthcoming polar expedition ships.

Polar Cruising Before the First World War

The Antarctic of this period was the Svalbard Islands, and polar cruising focused on Spitsbergen and seeing how far into the pack ice the ship could go. Cruise itineraries varied in length, with the longer ones incorporating Nordkapp and Iceland. German, British, French and Norwegian companies participated in the trade, as well as a number of independent charterers. In this respect, it is interesting to consider the language used in P&O’s Spitsbergen itinerary for the Vectis.

In 1905, the ship’s itinerary listed Merok, followed by the statement: ‘Time devoted to steaming to the ice pack and Recherche Bay (Spitzbergen), stay in port and return to North Cape, 8 days.’ In following brochures there is no mention of the ice pack and the time is steadily reduced. Then in 1911, the following statement is included: ‘From Tromsø, conditions being favourable, the Vectis will steam north to Recherche Bay Spitzbergen, the time allotted for the stay there being about 48 hours.’ One might speculate that the Ile de France incident in 1906, when it grounded on rocks, had spooked the underwriters, and insurance costs had gone up, necessitating cruises to go only as far as Recherche Bay and avoid the ice pack.

At this time, cruising as a vacation concept was only just developing and there were few purpose-built or specially converted ships. Most of the ships deployed to the north pre-First World War (as in later years) were regular passenger ships on summer assignments. While Thomas Cook had started interest in northern Norway in 1875 with a cruise for twenty-one excursionists on the President Christie to Nordkapp, the chartering of the ship was not planned. Because of a misunderstanding over cabin accommodation on the ships that provided coastal sailings prior to the introduction of the Hurtigruten service, the company was forced to charter to fulfil its obligations to the tourists on the trip.

One of the earliest companies to enter the market, although initially only to the Norwegian fjords, was the North of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland Shipping Company (The North Company), which sent its St Rognvald on a single cruise to Bergen and ‘some of the principal fjords and places of interest on the west coast of Norway’ in 1886. The success of similar cruises offered by the Ceylon in 1884 may have encouraged the venture. The trip, at £10 for ten days, was a resounding success and the company dispatched a second cruise that same season. It then built one of the very first dedicated cruise ships – St Sunniva – for the 1887 season. Interestingly, the accommodation was essentially one class, a precursor of other expedition cruise ships.

St Sunniva rigging plan. (© Aberdeen City Council (Art Gallery and Museums Collection))

Accommodation on the St Sunniva was for 142 passengers in a combination of two-berth cabins on the main deck and multi-berth cabins on a lower deck. An unusual feature was a twelve-berth ladies cabin on the main deck that had its own bathroom and two toilets, as well as two washbasins. This provision may have been a response to the keen interest of Victorian ladies in travelling to out of the way destinations. However, a feature of early cruise ships, extending into the interwar period, was the large number of single cabins provided. The upper deck cabins all had washbasins, but as was common at the time, shared bathrooms and toilets. The lower deck cabins did not have en suite washbasins and shared a bathroom and two washbasins, but did not have toilets; these were all on the upper deck. The main saloon could seat 132 persons, and there was a smoking room as well as a ladies room aft.

Pricing for the St Sunniva was as follows:

Cabin on Upper Deck for one person: £15

Cabin for two persons: £12.12.0 each

In Ladies cabin and in a cabin holding more than two persons: £10.10.0

A Four-Berth Cabin, when taken by a party not exceeding four persons: £34.00.0

The passage money included:

Tea and Coffee from 7 to 8 a.m.

Breakfast at 9 a.m.

Lunch at 1 p.m.

Tea at 4 p.m.

Dinner at 7 p.m.

Tea and coffee afterwards.

Tea at 4 p.m. was said to include ‘substantials’, which means that it was high tea; that is tea, sandwiches, cakes and pastries.

The St Sunniva cruises sold out and the St Rognvald had to be brought in for an additional two cruises, which were limited to fifty passengers in order that guests should have the same level of accommodation as on the new vessel. The success of the St Sunniva programme persuaded The North Company to upgrade the St Rognvald, and in 1887 she was given twenty-two new midship cabins. Further modified in 1894 and 1898, she eventually offered 100 berths and a dining room that could seat eighty. The St Rognvald also went to the North Cape on a twenty-one-day cruise in 1888. Competition for the British market started immediately, with the Wilson Line offering a cruise with the Domino, after the perceived success of the first cruise by St Rognvald, and then Orient Line entered the market in 1889 with Chimborozo and Garonne. Ultimately, competition became too much, and The North Company exited the market after the 1908 season, converting the St Sunniva into a ferry.

Despite the success of The North Company, Captain Wilhelm Bade is often considered to be the father of polar cruising. Reports state that his company, Nordische Hochseefischerei Gesellschaft, was established in 1892 to undertake fishing, whaling, mining and tourism in Spitsbergen. Interestingly, the first Bade cruise to Spitsbergen was on the Amely, which Lloyd’s Register notes was an iron screw trawler built that year and owned by a German deep-sea fishing company. It sailed from Tromsø with a small group of hunters and prospectors. As part of company business, a whale catcher, Glukhauf, was built, and it was intended that tourists could board the ship to participate in a whaling trip. The first three of the intended activities of the company failed after the 1892 season, but Bade, in today’s parlance, ‘found his passion’ with tourism and went on to develop a successful business that was continued by his son after his death in 1903. Bade Senior chartered small, but well-appointed ships, focused on offering good food as well as interesting activities. The cruises were so well thought of that the passengers created a house flag for the company, and the Baedecker travel guide of the period recommended them. It would appear, from register details for the ships he chartered, that he took on ships that met the probable passenger numbers expected. For 1897–99 he chartered the Kong Harald, a small but well-appointed ship from Nordenfjeldske D/S. However, for 1900, he selected the Herthe, a 253grt wood steam auxiliary vessel, for a hunting trip to Franz Josef Land. Ice prevented them getting to their chosen destination, but they were able to take some polar bears and seals from Spitsbergen. Along with most operators, he did not charter in 1901, but for the next five years the Oihonna was the ship of choice, and on the 1903 cruise she carried forty-five passengers, of which thirty-seven were German.

The leading German liner company offering northern cruises was Hamburg-Amerika Line (the precursor to today’s Hapag-Lloyd), which started cruising with the Columbia in 1893. Subsequent twenty-day cruises were offered in 1895 and 1896 from Hamburg, usually with a thirty-six-hour stopover in Spitsbergen, visiting Belsund and Isfjorden, then returning to Cuxhaven. The ships the company deployed into Spitsbergen were mainly used on its transatlantic service, which, as with many other companies over the years (see Caronia later), were pulled during the summer to offer northern cruises.

Northern itinerary for Victoria Luise in 1912. (Courtesy Hapag-Lloyd AG Hamburg)

Victoria Luise