News

Galapagos cruise incident March 2010

On March 17, at 7:20 PM local time (13h20 GMT), while entering the harbor at Puerto Ayora, on the southern coast of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador, the M/S Alta, struck a reef at Camaño Islet and was unable to free itself.

On Wednesday the deluxe Galapagos cruise ship, Alta, ran aground just outside Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos Islands.

This is the second incident involving a Quasar boat in the past 14 months, having lost Parranda to fire in January 2009.

With only four boats on their books originally, this latest incident leaves them with just two, Evolution and Grace.

Unfortunately for Quasar, the timing of this latest incident will raise the eyebrows of some cynics. They will need to deal with this quickly and effectively.

As late as last week, space on Alta during April and May was being offered at substantial discount (see our discount Galapagos page) which tends to indicate that Alta had significant excess capacity.

Puerto Ayora is also the largest and busiest part of the Galapagos archipelago and is persumably therefore the area with which you would expect any boat captain to be most familiar.

It does appear from inital reports that a lighthouse was not working so clearly there are mitigating circumstances.

We urge a rapid and thorough investigation of this accident to ensure that the good name of Quasar remains intact. We also want to guard the hard earned reputation of responsible boat travel around the Galapagos islands.

This page will be updated with news as it comes in. For now, the following is the information release from Quasar Nautica, owners and operators of the Alta.

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Incident involving the M/S Alta
March 18, 2010

The Vessel M/S Alta
On March 17, at 7:20 PM local time (13h20 GMT), while entering the harbor at Puerto Ayora, on the southern coast of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador, the M/S Alta, struck a reef at Camaño Islet and was unable to free itself.

Passenger & Safety
The passengers were evacuated to in a safe and orderly fashion with the assistance of the Galapagos National Park vessels and the crew of the Alta.

No injuries were reported and arrangements were made for the passengers to stay at an ocean front hotel where their tour is continuing. Puerto Ayora is the main port and population center of the Galapagos Islands and the site of the Galapagos National Park headquarters and Charles Darwin Station.

The passenger and staff nationalities included: 16 Canadians, 8 Ecuadorian crew members and 1 Ecuadorian National Park Guide.

Environmental Concerns
The yacht remains on the reef with plans to be removed by specialists. An assessment of the yacht’s condition is currently underway. The Galapagos National Park and Quasar Nautica Expeditions are monitoring the Alta.

The yacht’s fuel is being removed from its fuel tanks and containment measures are in place to mitigate any leaks should they occur, but none have been reported to date.

Cause
Reports indicate that the lighthouse that serves as a reference point to the harbor entrance and which indicates the location of the islet was not working.

This is believed to have been one of the primary contributors to the incident.

A full report by the Galapagos National Park will be forthcoming.

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Find out more about Alta, visit our Alta Galapagos cruise page.

Find out more about other options for Galapagos cruises or read our holiday guide to the Galapagos islands.