Like a monument to the end of Antarctica’s age of innocence, the cruise ship’s badly gashed orange hull rises out of ice blue waters. Penguins calmly perch atop the overturned vessel, unaware of the danger in thin oily sheen on the water around them. Much of the diesel fuel, in tens of thousands of gallons are spilling out more than ever even as some of it evaporated already.
Times are quickly changing at the final frontier of Earth. Some countries with vested interest either to stake or reinforce their claims to a part of this Frozen Continent are consistently lending their sea vessels, bulldozers, amphibious trucks and airships. They create new bases and launch scientific research efforts with fanfare throughout their nations. Come the weeks of the austral summer week, many groups of well heeled vacationers arrive through cruise ships, military transport planes or supply vessels that are made possible by specialized agencies for travel to marvel at this new area and experience.
Individuals on board polar skiing expeditions and private yachts are able to venture to Earth’s final frontier even without a passport. Unwanted tragedies and accidents as with the case of the cruise liner that sank, Antarctic wildlife is, sadly, paying the price as tons of legal, environmental and highly political questions flood in the way huge, perilous icebergs abound through the barely explored waters of this planet’s final frontier. No one owns the frozen continent so no laws apply to it based on the Antarctic Treaty’s stipulations.
The treaty involved 12 countries who signed it back in 1961, making them all set aside their territorial stakes for around 30 years and allow peaceful research to thrive for at least the next thirty years. Nations holding only observer status, eighteen of them, have consented to abide by the laws after eight more countries have been granted full voting powers since joining the treaty. Treaty countries meet every two years. Now, with the group?s plan to permit strictly regulated exploitation and exploration of mineral resources, Antarctica will no longer be as mystical as many perceive it to be. They are now beginning to see themselves tussling with issues on indemnification, air safety, medical and evacuation facilities and even proliferation of work bases.
Come the austral summer season, over 30 ships scheduled to head to Palmer usher in about a hundred tourists. Like a wild animal, tourism is mostly uncontrolled. There was a short lived attempt by the Science Foundation in the past year to inhibit tourists from coming in, believing that these impeded the research processes. As Americans who were very influential claimed their right to see how their tax dollars were spend, the ban was removed.
There is also a medical corpsman that is part of the station staff responsible for accommodating up to four dozen people at a time in a single studio that is small yet accessible. Its forte is not maritime disaster management. According to station workers, only fair weather could stop a disaster from happening. All of them saw that the open inflatable rafts from the sunken ship did not have any oars and motors. Typical station work boats can tow it ashore without much hassle thanks to the very calm day. The concerned workers share that if it got overturned or got blown to the farther parts of the sea by the complicated Antarctic weather, things would become far worse.
To quickly address the oil catastrophe, navy and civilian pollution containment team were dispatched by the National Science Foundation taking with them 52 tons of specialized equipment to carry out the mission For the mission, over two million dollars was spent. The navies of Chile and Argentina come in to undergo clean up missions that are costly. Even as the clean up lasted until the middle of March, the vessel that sunk still held over 63,000 gallons of fuel making it impossible to be reached and siphoned out safely which means that as the ship disintegrates, more spills will come out and once a winter storm rages, the risk of everything flowing out is much higher. Getting the wreckage out would be very pricey, states experts.
Different types of birds like penguins, skuas, cormorants and Arctic terns thrive in the area where the oil spill occurred At the bay, whales and seals swim through. Scientists say there already exists indirect evidence that many penguins and other birds were poisoned by the spill, but they have been unable to determine the extent of the damage. The environmental impact of the spill is now being studied by 15 researchers, a special team composed of experts in research from Argentina, America and Chile. It will take years to complete, yet there is no way a claim for damages can be made.
Since the United States has no property rights to the area at or around Palmer Station, it has no legal grounds for seeking compensation The area of the accident, on the Antarctic Peninsula, is claimed by Chile, Argentina and Great Britain. Lately, plans on an article that will ensure each country will be financially responsible for environmental damages and other accidents shall be pushed by Chile, come the next Antarctic Treaty. For cost sharing in clean up of spills and other accidents, agreements must be made, not to mention the conception of an international coordinating office for emergencies and these are currently considered by the Science Foundation.
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