Most of our passengers never navigated on an icebreaker before, there are some exceptions, of course, but the majority of them never imagined to be on board of an icebreaker.
Icebreakers in general seem like a faraway ship that only few people have had the chance to navigate, such as scientists, researchers, members of the Navy, specialized crew and so on. The fact that we can bring closer this kind of ships to people who want to experience something different is amazing, because by doing so our passengers can have a deeper understanding of how beautiful and complex our planet is.
For someone who comes from a faraway place to join Icebreaker cruise in Lapland, the experience of the Arctic condition and frozen sea is totally exotic! To join an icebreaker ship that able to navigate on frozen sea, to see the big pieces of ice being moved away by the hull, to even get to listen to the sound that the ice makes when being broken it is marvelous. We can see photos, films, and documentaries about it but to be able to experience it by ourselves it is a whole new experience, we see that every cruise.
Throughout our history, humans have had to learn how to survive in harsh conditions. Before the invention of icebreakers, it was extremely difficult to navigate the frozen seas, and this meant important supply problems for the ones living in countries where winters could easily freeze the sea. It is remarkably to think that only in the late 1800’s first icebreakers were built. Of course, they were not as advanced as the ones we can have now, but still it was a huge moment in our more recent history.
Our Polar Explorer was built in Hamburg, Germany in 1976 and used to work as an anchor-handling tug and supply vessel. One of the peculiarities about our Polar Explorer is that it is a multifunctional icebreaker, which means it can navigate even in open waters.
During its industrial life, it used to tow large barges around the world, from Norway all the way down to Brazil. It also used to handle anchors for oil rigs in the very Artic Ocean and bring supplies such as food and water to the crew men on the oil rigs. To think that a ship of this magnitude can now be open and available for tourists from all over the world, to experience by themselves the breaking of the ice it is a unique experience.
We see the “whoa!” from our passengers as soon as they get off the buses or cars and see our Polar Explorer for the first time. They all rush to get the perfect photo with Polar Explorer as background.
And that is the first “whoa!”, because many more come during the cruise.