Ships that visit Port Lockroy

[Travel Cat1]

Good Afternoon:

My husband and I are considering a cruise to Antarctica in 2022.  Which ships include Port Lockroy in their itinerary?  I have skimmed this forum for  information with no luck.  I have also tried the search function and have tried googling as well!  Thank you for your insight and I look forward to your replies.  

 

 

[donaldsc]

Did you try using Google.  I did a Google search and got lots and lots of hits.  Some were more detailed than others but all of them had phone numbers attached so you could get more info.  Try calling them.  There are lots of good Antarctica cruise travel agencies located in the US or England but we are not allowed to mention them on CC so you have to do your own research.

 

I assume you know that any cruise that stops at Port Lockroy will be a small ship adventure cruise.

 

Google is your friend.

 

DON

Edited January 17, 2021 by donaldsc

[Nitemare]

Most of the itineraries don't have pre-set stops as these depend on weather conditions and other ship "traffic".  When we did Antarctica 3 years ago, we knew we were supposed to stop at 1 base, and as often as possible at landing spots but dates and specific locations wouldn't be known until maybe 24 hours ahead of time.

[PaulMCO]

Silversea will generally schedule a stop at Port Lockroy.  Just to warn you it was not much.  You only got to visit the small post office/gift shop there, get your passport stamped and that was it.

Edited January 19, 2021 by PaulMCO

[Nitemare]

We were on Silversea and we had no specific schedule.  We did make a base landing (not at Lockroy) and daily landings for penguins, etc.

[kaisatsu]

You need to be on a ship with a capacity under 250. Port Lockroy can only allow 50 passengers ashore at a time, so a larger ship than that will not logistically be able to visit. I have been there on the MS Expedition with GAdventures, and we were still planning to visit on the larger MS Fram with Hurtigruten, though it would have meant more rotations. I would expect anything bigger than that to be unlikely.

 

As mentioned above, everything is at the whim of weather and ice conditions. When we arrived on the Fram, there was too much brash ice blown in along the shore, so we could not visit and had to cancel our landing (even though we were carrying the resupplies for the post office, having picked them up in the Falklands a week before).

 

In general, most of the major expedition companies will typically try to call at Port Lockroy if they can, and if the conditions allow, the site will often see two ships every day.

 

The above information about scheduling is slightly misleading, as IAATO does have a ship scheduling system to prevent two ships from ending up at the same location at the same time. The “Plan A,” “Plan B,” “Plan C,” etc that are discussed by the expedition leader all take this into account. Of course it is possible to make last minute adjustments, and ships are known to trade landing sites on the fly as the captains and ELs communicate amongst themselves, but for a popular site like Port Lockroy, the companies will have locked in their slots when the ship scheduling opens. They won’t know if they’re going when the trips are first listed, and of course you never know if it will actually happen until you’re right there.
 

@Travelcat1, to answer your question, you would need to look at smaller expedition cruises, and like all activities and plans for an Antarctic expedition, everything is up in the air until the moment that it happens. On my first trip, I was really hoping to visit, but I knew I had to keep my expectations in check, especially since many of our other landings were canceled. And then, on my second expedition, Port Lockroy ended up being our only canceled landing, even after we’d managed to visit Elephant Island (which is an unusual and very lucky achievement)! So you never know. If you want to visit Antarctica, you just have to take what comes along.

[kaisatsu]

38 minutes ago, kaisatsu said:

@Travelcat1, to answer your question

Sorry, that should have been @Travel Cat1

[PaulMCO]

We were on Silversea Explorer when we landed. It was not an easy landing and worse recovery with rough seas.

[pdmlynek]

On 1/17/2021 at 12:41 PM, Travel Cat1 said:

Good Afternoon:

My husband and I are considering a cruise to Antarctica in 2022.  Which ships include Port Lockroy in their itinerary?  I have skimmed this forum for  information with no luck.  I have also tried the search function and have tried googling as well!  Thank you for your insight and I look forward to your replies.  

 

 

Did you go?  Did you ever find fid your answer via Google as @donaldsc suggested?

 

A quick question: was there a specific to visit such a tiny island?  Was to get a post card mailed from there?

[onyx007]

No idea if you did go or not; first of all it's true, that you have to be on a ship with only 250 passenger max even to be able to visit Port Lockroy, but Antarctica is one of those places where you never have a guarantee beforehand to make certain landing points.

 

So no ship can tell you for sure, that you will land at Port Lockroy, it might be another open base or no base at all...

[pdmlynek]

On 1/22/2021 at 9:30 AM, kaisatsu said:

You need to be on a ship with a capacity under 250. Port Lockroy can only allow 50 passengers ashore at a time, so a larger ship than that will not logistically be able to visit. I have been there on the MS Expedition with GAdventures, and we were still planning to visit on the larger MS Fram with Hurtigruten, though it would have meant more rotations. I would expect anything bigger than that to be unlikely.

 

 

It would make sense to keep the capacity of the ships under 250, but surprisingly, acording to the IAATO Visitor Site Guide to Goudier Island dated 2019, they do accept ships up to 500 pax.  The limit onto the island is 60, and into the base 35.  

 

For several days I wondered why this weird discrepency, and then I read a trip report in which the author states that the ship was running visit to two landing sites simultaneously: one to Port Lockroy and the other to Jougla Point.  It surprised me that a ship can visit two of the 44 landing sites in Antarctica simultaneously!

 

 

 

[onyx007]

3 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

 

It would make sense to keep the capacity of the ships under 250, but surprisingly, acording to the IAATO Visitor Site Guide to Goudier Island dated 2019, they do accept ships up to 500 pax.  The limit onto the island is 60, and into the base 35.  

 

For several days I wondered why this weird discrepency, and then I read a trip report in which the author states that the ship was running visit to two landing sites simultaneously: one to Port Lockroy and the other to Jougla Point.  It surprised me that a ship can visit two of the 44 landing sites in Antarctica simultaneously!

 

 

 

Jougla Point, better known as the "Waiting Room" of Port Lockroy is a little peninsula with a small population of Gentoo Penguins, and it's just across the Island of Port Lockroy (only about 100 Meters as the bird flies) 

 

Therefore an Expedition-Ship can have three groups at the same time out of the ship; one visits the base, one is in the Zodiacs doing a cruise and the third is in waiting on Jougla Point nearby...

 

Or better said about three Zodiac-loads are at the base, 5-6 Zodiac-Loads are on Jougla Point and there might be some loads on the water...and as the number is that limited of course a bigger ship might not be able to do the landing as they would need the whole day for all the people...

[pdmlynek]

6 hours ago, onyx007 said:

Jougla Point, better known as the "Waiting Room" of Port Lockroy is a little peninsula with a small population of Gentoo Penguins, and it's just across the Island of Port Lockroy (only about 100 Meters as the bird flies) 

 

Therefore an Expedition-Ship can have three groups at the same time out of the ship; one visits the base, one is in the Zodiacs doing a cruise and the third is in waiting on Jougla Point nearby...

 

Or better said about three Zodiac-loads are at the base, 5-6 Zodiac-Loads are on Jougla Point and there might be some loads on the water...and as the number is that limited of course a bigger ship might not be able to do the landing as they would need the whole day for all the people...

Thank you for the confirmation and explanation. I appreciate it.

 

I wonder if IAATO knew about this when it designed the landing sites. I would guess that IAATO did consider this, but the idea of visiting more than 1 site at a time seems to go against the spirit of the rule of limiting the number of people on land at a time to 100. But I dunno.

 

Secondly, do you know of other places in Antarctica where a ship routinely visits 2 or more landing sites at a time?

 

Thirdly, maybe I am interpreting this wrongly, but "three Zodiacs loads at the base" for a place where the maximum number of pax is 60, and "5-6 Zodiacs-loads on Jougla Point" where the max number is 100, make it seem like that Zodiacs take up to 20 people. Is this correct? I thought that the maximum in a Zodiac boats is 11, given that IAATO defines a "ship" as a vessel with 12 people of more.

[kaisatsu]

My post was meant for the original poster, not as some kind of documented statement. The OP wanted to know which ships call at Port Lockroy. Since itineraries are not available for expedition ships in the way they are for traditional cruises, it was meant as advice for achieving the stated goal. Given the rotational logistics, a larger ship would (as mentioned above) need an entire day. Considering the enormous popularity of Port Lockroy as a landing site, it is far less likely that a ship will be able to occupy the site for a full day. Is it possible? Yes. Is it a good idea if your goal is to maximize your chances of visiting Port Lockroy? Probably not.

 

6 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

I wonder if IAATO knew about this when it designed the landing sites. I would guess that IAATO did consider this, but the idea of visiting more than 1 site at a time seems to go against the spirit of the rule of limiting the number of people on land at a time to 100. But I dunno.

Visitors have been traveling to Antarctica before IAATO. IAATO doesn't "design" landing sites. They provide guidelines for places that are already there and that operators want to bring visitors to. There are new still new places of interest being discovered and explored. In fact, my last trip included a scouting trip by key members of the expedition staff to collect information that IAATO may use in future to establish guidelines for that site.

 

And the "spirit of the rule" was never about limiting visitors to an a certain number, or even to limit visitors at all. The intention of IAATO and its guidelines are to find a way to support sustainable tourism to the continent. That's how it self governs. If tourism becomes unsustainable, the tour operators will go out of business, because the amazing natural environment they're selling no longer exists.

 

In larger landing areas with more space and less environmental sensitivity, there is room for 100 people to go ashore. Port Lockroy and Jougla Point are more constricted areas, so the number of visitors who can safely fit at each is more limited. They just have the advantage that they are both within zodiac range of a ship at the same time. There are other small sites with <100 visitor numbers where people wait in the zodiacs or on the ship until they have the chance to go ashore.

[pdmlynek]

4 hours ago, kaisatsu said:

Visitors have been traveling to Antarctica before IAATO. IAATO doesn't "design" landing sites. They provide guidelines for places that are already there and that operators want to bring visitors to.

 

Thank you for your detailed explanation. I appreciate it.

 

I miswrote. I meant to write "IAATO designated sites", not "IAATO designed sites". Sorry about the confusion. 

 

I am confused now more than ever. The way that I understand how ships that comply with IAATO rules (which seem to be almost all expedition cruise ships) operate, is that all landings in Antarctica (60°S and further south) take place only at one of the 44 landing sites. There are no other places in Antarctica that passengers off such ships can land on. 

 

Or can such ship visit Antarctica and have its passengers walk on land that is not on the list of 44 landing sites? 

 

Thank you.

[pdmlynek]

5 hours ago, kaisatsu said:

...

There are new still new places of interest being discovered and explored. In fact, my last trip included a scouting trip by key members of the expedition staff to collect information that IAATO may use in future to establish guidelines for that site.

....

Thank you.

 

It would make sense to increase the number of IAATO landing sites in Antarctica, given the rapidly expanding tourism in Antarctica.

 

I take it that on the scouting trip by the expedition leaders to collect information did not include passengers walking on the landing site, correct? Or did passengers get off the ship and explored the landing site?

 

Thank you.

[PerfectlyPerth]

On 3/15/2023 at 1:20 PM, pdmlynek said:

Thank you.

 

It would make sense to increase the number of IAATO landing sites in Antarctica, given the rapidly expanding tourism in Antarctica.

 

I take it that on the scouting trip by the expedition leaders to collect information did not include passengers walking on the landing site, correct? Or did passengers get off the ship and explored the landing site?

 

Thank you.

I've personally landed at many places along East Antarctica where the last humans that landed were explorers in the 1940s. Not remotely listed on IAATO ! We still complied with the basic ideals of IAATO guidelines and there was only 80or90 of us so it was easy to maintain the numbers. 

PS you may be doing it out of politeness but could you maybe cease with the clicking like on everything I've posted in the past 7 years. It means I get a mass of notifications and assume they are new threads seeking responses.
Forum etiquette anywhere on the WWW is generally to not necropost and re raise such old posts as it pushes current posts way down the list or to the second page. 

[pdmlynek]

On 3/16/2023 at 7:23 AM, PerfectlyPerth said:

I've personally landed at many places along East Antarctica where the last humans that landed were explorers in the 1940s. Not remotely listed on IAATO ! We still complied with the basic ideals of IAATO guidelines and there was only 80or90 of us so it was easy to maintain the numbers. 

OK, I am still confused, 

 

Are you suggesting that given IAATO lists landing places only around the Peninsula (incl. S. Shetlands, S. Orkneys) and a few places in Ross Sea, it would make sense that ships that land on East Antarctica will not be landing on IAATO listed places?

 

Can an IAATO member ship land passengers in for example, anywhere in South Shetlands, given that there are many IAATO-listed landing sites?  Or are the 44 IAATO listed landing sites just recommended sites, and the ship will land whereever it wants?

 

Thanks

[PerfectlyPerth]

20 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

OK, I am still confused, 

 

Are you suggesting that given IAATO lists landing places only around the Peninsula (incl. S. Shetlands, S. Orkneys) and a few places in Ross Sea, it would make sense that ships that land on East Antarctica will not be landing on IAATO listed places?

 

Can an IAATO member ship land passengers in for example, anywhere in South Shetlands, given that there are many IAATO-listed landing sites?  Or are the 44 IAATO listed landing sites just recommended sites, and the ship will land whereever it wants?

 

Thanks

Why would you assume or presume from my post that I was suggesting any such thing. I simply mentioned some places I have had the privilege of landing. 
 

IAATO has a very active social media presence on Twitter and Facebook. I suggest you take it up with them given none of us here are members and have access to the identical info you do on their website. https://www.facebook.com/iaato.org?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Unless you are writing some kind of thesis - none of this is really required for a holiday. At the end of the day none of it is within your control when it comes to landings - it's up to the EL and Captain. All you need to do is comply with the biosecurity measures and distance requirements and enjoy your experience. 
 

[kaisatsu]

I’m not sure why you’re caught up on this @pdmlynek, but for what it’s worth, much of the coastline isn’t suitable for landing. There are glaciers, steep inclines, difficult ice conditions, etc. And even in most places that you can, there isn’t much reason to. Passengers are typically much happier going places where there are penguins or historical sites or nice viewpoints rather than just getting dropped off on some random rocky shoreline without any points of interest. This is also why zodiac cruising is often the chosen alternative for canceled landings, because the ice formations and varied scenery are more appealing than just wandering around a small empty piece of shoreline.

 

But as PP mentioned, this is completely out of passengers’ control anyway.