Its reinforced hull gashed and taking on water, the MS Explorer slipped beneath the waves Friday evening, about 20 hours after its pre-dawn accident near the South Shetland Islands, the Chilean navy said.
Initial reports suggested only a small hole was punched into the hull, but the Argentine navy later said in a statement it observed "significant" damage. Photos released by the Chilean navy throughout the day showed the ship lying nearly on its side, surrounded by floating blocks of ice.
Andrea Salas, an Argentine crew member aboard the Explorer, was quoted as saying passengers felt an initial bump that seemed minor.
"Then we heard the captain announcing that there was another iceberg approaching us and that he was waiting ... for it to pass by," she told Radio Continental in Buenos Aires. "But that didn't happen," and there was a second, larger collision.
"They started pumping water out to keep the ship afloat" while the 154 passengers and crew members evacuated, said Salas, 38.
After bobbing for hours in subfreezing temperatures aboard lifeboats and inflatable rafts, the passengers and crew members were rescued by a Norwegian cruise liner, the Nordnorge, that answered the Explorer's distress call.
Wearing bright orange suits to fend off the bitter temperatures, their faces reddened by a blustery storm that delayed their landing, the rescued finally disembarked Friday night on King George Island in Antarctica where they were housed on Chilean and Uruguayan military bases.
Authorities reported no injuries other than some complaints of mild hypothermia, none serious. Military officials hoped the weather would clear enough to airlift the survivors to Chile's mainland Saturday.
"The passengers are absolutely fine. They're all accounted for," said Susan Hayes of G.A.P. Adventures of Toronto, which runs environmentally oriented excursions and owns the stricken MS Explorer.
She said the 91 passengers hailed from more than a dozen nations, including 24 Britons, 17 Dutch, 14 Americans, 12 Canadians and 10 Australians. The ship also carried nine expedition staff members and a crew of 54.
Nordnorge Capt. Arnvid Hansen said his ship ferried the survivors to King George Island without incident. "The rescue operation ran very smoothly," the 54-year-old captain told The Associated Press by shipboard telephone.
An Argentine rescue and command center received the first distress call at 12:30 a.m. EST Friday from the Explorer amid reports it was taking on water despite efforts to use onboard pumps, said Capt. Juan Pablo Panichini, an Argentine navy spokesman.
Throughout the day the ship listed heavily, its white superstructure and red hull starkly visible against the gray, choppy waters and overcast skies. The Chilean navy eventually lost sight of the ship and wreckage indicated it had gone under completely, according to a navy press officer who declined to be identified in accordance with department policy.
"Our units in the area aren't seeing anything," he told the AP by telephone. "The Explorer is not visible any longer."
A U.S. woman said in an e-mail to family members that she witnessed the high-seas drama from aboard the Nordnorge.
"It is really scary to see a ship sinking out your porthole," said Jennifer Enders of Covina, California, who was traveling with her husband Robert. "The people were in the water in lifeboats for 4 hours and it is cold outside. We were asked to donate clothes to those coming in from the lifeboats."
