The officials of GAP Adventures the Canadian-owned cruise liner which struck ice in the Antarctic Ocean announce that the passengers and the crew have been rescued and are safe.

“The Explorer hit a lump of ice off King George Island this morning and the impact left the vessel with a crack in the hull the size of a fist,” Susan Hayes, marketing vice-president for GAP Adventures in Toronto said.

“All passengers and crew have been evacuated, they are all accounted for and are safe and well,” she added.

GAP Adventures disclosed the passenger nationalities on board the ship: 24 Britons, 14 Americans, 12 Canadians, 10 Australians, 17 Dutch, 4 Irish, 4 Swiss, 2 Belgians, 3 Danes, 1 French, 1 German, 1 Swede, 2 Argentinians, 1 Columbian, 1 Japanese, 1 Chinese and two people from Hong Kong.

The passengers and crew were picked up by the Nordnorge, a Norwegian cruise ship that was nearby and responded to the distress call, said Hayes.

“The passengers are absolutely fine,” Hayes announced. “They're all accounted for, no injuries whatsoever.”

The Nordnorge has enough room to accommodate all the passengers, “so they may very well continue their journey on the Nordnorge,” Hayes said.  “Traveling to Antarctica is always risky”, Hayes added.

“There is ice in the area. Obviously it's a hazard of the area. But it's highly unusual (that the ship would hit the ice). This has never happened to us”, she said.

Capt. Arnvid Hansen, of the Nordnorge, said the rescue operation went smoothly. “All are aboard my vessel,” he told BBC. “There are no afraid passengers or anything like that.”

“They were a bit cold and wet, but in good condition. We have brought them aboard and gave them warm clothes and food and accommodation so they are in a good mood now,” Hansen said.

The Explorer ran into trouble near the South Shetland Islands in the Antarctic Ocean, and began to sink.

“They apparently crashed with an iceberg and they have a breakdown at the bow,” Pedro Tuhay, of the Argentine Coast Guard, told Argentine radio.

“The captain decided to disembark the 100 passengers in boats, and also part of the crew. The captain stayed with five crew members, and since the weather was good the passengers headed for the island 25 May, some 20 or 25 miles away,” Tuhay added, with reference to the island in the South Shetlands that Britain calls King George Island.