Cruise ship runs aground in Antarctic

BUENOS AIRES - A luxury Antarctic cruise ship carrying 122 passengers and crew started to take on water and leak fuel after it ran aground yesterday.

Argentine Navy Admiral Daniel Martin said a nearby passenger ship was on its way to the stricken Panamanian-flagged vessel, called the Ushuaia after the Argentine port in Tierra del Fuego from which it sailed.

He and the boat's captain, who also spoke to local media, said none of the boat's passengers had been injured.

"The aim is to get the passengers off as soon as possible and this they're going to do with the Atlantic Dream, which will soon be arriving there," he said, referring to the nearby cruise ship being sent to the rescue.

He said the Ushuaia lay some 186 miles southwest of Argentina's Marambio military base on the Antarctic Peninsula, in a strait near Isla Bravante.

Neighboring Chile, which like Argentina has an Antarctic territory, offered to help in the rescue with vessels and helicopters.

The Chilean Navy said the crew on the stranded vessel had taken measures to prevent the fuel leak from polluting the sea.

Tourism to the Antarctic region has increased five-fold since the early 1990s.

A year ago, more than 150 crew and passengers escaped unhurt after their cruise ship hit ice off Antarctica and sank.

REUTERS