Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers never got to sail the Northwest Passage, the once-mythical route depicted in one of his most famous songs. Rogers died in 1983. But when his son, Nathan, was offered the chance recently to go where his father never could, he didn't hesitate.
Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out like he'd planned.
A singer like his dad, Nathan was one of almost 200 passengers and crew stranded aboard a cruise ship in Canada's Arctic for nearly for nearly 48 hours this weekend.
The Clipper Adventurer, operated by the Mississauga, Ont.-based Adventure Canada, became grounded on an uncharted rock in the waters of western Nunavut shortly after 7 p.m. local time Friday, just a day before the 15-day Arctic expedition was to come to an end.
Rogers, who was on board as an entertainer, spoke to his wife by phone Saturday afternoon. The call was brief and cut off suddenly, but she said he, and everybody else, seemed fine.
"Contact is quite sketchy from where they are," Amber Pelletier said, adding the company had been quite good at keeping her informed.
The ship hit a rock in about three metres of water, about 55 nautical miles east of Kugluktuk, Nunavut, which is also known as Coppermine, near the border with the Northwest Territories.
The passengers and crew aboard the ship were said to be safe and unharmed and Sunday evening were being transferred on small vessels to the Amundsen, a coast guard icebreaker, which had travelled to the scene Sunday, and stood about four nautical miles away. A chartered 737 jet would then fly passengers to Edmonton today.
According to the company, the sea was calm at the time of the ship's grounding, visibility was good, it was sunny and there was no wind or swell.
One expert said the incident raised questions about whether Canada would have the ability to respond quickly enough to a true disaster in its Far North and highlighted concerns about the adequacy of existing nautical maps as rapidly melting sea ice continues to open up new shipping routes.
"We dodged a bullet on this," said Michael Byers, a University of British Columbia political science professor and Arctic expert. "The weather was good and that provided the time for a coast guard ice breaker to travel 500 miles to conduct a rescue."
Byers questioned what would have happened if the ship had been sinking, or if there had been some kind of medical emergency, noting that cruises often cater to retirees or the elderly.
Pointing out that Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters are the most effective tools in rough weather, he suggested Canada should consider having one permanently based in the North during the summer.
"The increase in traffic is almost exponential, and we're not prepared for that," Byers said, noting there were 69 transits of the Northwest Passage in the 100 years up to and including 2006. Last year alone, there were 24.
Adventure Canada CEO Matthew Swan was among those aboard the ship that went aground.
He told the CBC on Sunday there was no damage to the ship and that it had simply got stuck on a rock that never made it onto their chart.
Passengers, he said, were taking it all in stride.
"Conditions are good. We've actually had two full days of sun and flat calm seas and people have actually been on the deck taking in the sun, if you could believe it," he said.
The ship had reportedly been travelling from Port Epworth to Kugluktuk when it got stuck. The trip began in Greenland.
According to the company's website, the Clipper Adventurer is 90 metres in length and features a library, gymnasium, sauna and beauty salon.
Mr. Byers has been irresponsible in his comments and I beleive he should take some addtional time in considering further public notices. If there had been a medical emergency there was a doctor on board and no less than 8 of the Adventure Canada staff had first aid training, to say nothing of the crew's breadth of experience. What would have happened if the ship had been sinking? That's what lifeboats are for. We were within 10 miles of land (I could see it clearly) and we had two Inuit guides.