GUESTS onboard Silver Explorer’s current
Cruise and Explore the Antarctic Peninsula
voyage were able to play a part in the ship’s
history, becoming her first guests to successfully
land at Point Wild on Elephant Island.
The landing was a decade in the making, with
Explorer having attempted to take guests to
Elephant Island for nearly ten years, but having
been hampered by the inhospitable elements.
One of the most desolate and isolated places
in the world, Elephant Island was the location
where survivors of the Shackleton Expedition
lived under two lifeboats for more than four
months while hoping for rescue.
Explorer was able to land guests by tucking
into a sheltered bay to the west of Point Wild,
before Robin West, the voyage’s expedition
leader, and his team of nine, including
biologists, geologists and an historian, assisted
120 guests onto zodiacs, to explore the historic
site, including the 100m x 30m strip of land, at
low tide, where Shackleton’s shipmates made
a home during the winter of 1916.
“Landing in the exact place where Sir Ernest
Shackleton stepped ashore nearly 100 years ago,
was a truly significant and historic experience,
not only for our guests but for Silver Explorer
and the Expedition team as well,” said West.
“It is one of the best known stories of early
exploration in Antarctica and our guests had
the opportunity to be part of this,” West added.
