Survivors Recall Ordeal

Norwegian captain confirms 154 souls rescued and in good health
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2007 7:05 PM CST
Survivors Recall Ordeal
Passengers from the Canadian cruise ship Explorer sit in lifeboats after the Explorer struck submerged ice off of Antarctica and began taking on water, Friday, Nov. 23, 2007. No injuries were reported although passengers reportedly endured subfreezing temperatures for several hours as they waited in...   (Associated Press)

Safe and warm on an Antarctic island, passengers of the sunken Explorer recounted their ordeal in high spirits today, the Times reports. One said they heard a loud bang after midnight, and were called up as the ship started listing. “Then the electricity cut out and we lost the engine,” one said. "At 3 o’clock an order was given to abandon ship." That, he said, is when the "Titanic" jokes started.

“There was a lot of joke-telling. It’s the most bizarre thing that people tell Titanic jokes." Knowing ships were nearby, they stayed in good spirits, although they braved the wet and cold for five hours before a Norwegian cruise liner picked them up. Billed as an “adventure travel experience”—“the go-anywhere ship for the go-anywhere traveller"—the cruise set back each of the 156 survivors roughly $8,000. (More cruise ships stories.)

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