According to GAP Adventures, the owner of The Explorer, 75 passengers and 2 staff crew members were onboard of the first flight, while 11 passengers and 66 staff and crew remain on King George Island and, weather permitting, will be flown to Punta Arenas tomorrow.

One passenger has reported a sore foot and has been taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, GAP Adventures reported.

Representatives from the consular offices of Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States are on the ground in Punta Arenas working with G.A.P Adventures staff to assist passengers.

GAP Adventures did not comment on whether passengers would receive compensation, saying it was concentrating on their immediate needs.

Also a GAP representative confirmed that The Explorer sank around 75 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The passengers and crew were evacuated on Friday from the 2,400- ton vessel, after it ran into trouble near the South Shetland Islands in the Antarctic Ocean, and began to sink. They were first put on rigid and rubber lifeboats and then taken to the Norwegian ship Nord Norge.

"We were passing through ice as usual. ... But this time, something hit the hold and we got a little leakage downstairs," the Explorer's first officer, Peter Svensson, said.

During the Explorer's last safety inspection, which took place in May in Greenock, Renfrewshire, the UK officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency found five deficiencies. These included missing search and rescue plans and lifeboat maintenance problems. Watertight doors were described as "not as required" and fire safety measures were criticized.

Chilean port state control inspectors in March also found six deficiencies, two of which related to navigation safety.

According to Susan Hayes of G.A.P. Adventures of Toronto, the ship had been issued with a safety certificate as recently as October 21.