The Explorer's collision with an iceberg comes right at the start of the season for Antarctic cruising, which runs between November and March.

Tour operators are expecting this to be a record year with demand for adventure tourism continuing unabated. More than 37,000 tourists visited in the 2006-07 season, of which 5,052 were British. Americans and Britons make up half of all visitors to the region.

The figures have doubled in the past decade and more than 40 ships are expected to visit this season, ranging from ice breakers to small cruise ships and the large leviathans carrying 1,000 or more passengers.

Most of the British cruisers are young professionals, empty nesters or newly retired and the majority take 10-night cruises from Ushuaia at the tip of Argentina - the shortest sea-crossing (about 35 hours), as compared to the three-day voyage from Australia or New Zealand.

Iceberg blamed as passengers flee ship

24 Britons drifted for hours in icy waters before being rescued after a hole 'the size of a fist' caused their ship to sink

• The rise and rise of Antarctica cruising

• Tourism threatens Antarctica

• Cruising the wilderness of Antarctica

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• Will an Antarctic cruise be too rough?

• Tourism threatens Antarctica

• Stricter cruise rules protect marine life

BACKGROUND

• Cruising the wilderness of Antarctica

• Cruise to lands of ice and steamy jungles

• The growth of Arctic cruising

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• Iceberg blamed as passengers flee ship

• The growth of Arctic cruising

But increasing numbers are turning to 12-13 night cruises that go further into the Antarctic Circle, or 18-19 night cruises that also take in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The cruises don't come cheap, starting at £4,500 and rising to £6,500 or more to include flights and hotel accommodation in Argentina.

The stricken Explorer was on a 25-day super trip of the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica and had sold packages in Britain through Trailfinders, Noble Caledonia and Explore Worldwide with prices from £7,250. It had visited the Falklands last wekend and many cruisers had disembarked to visit the penguin colonies.

Hattie Kilmartin, who runs a catering company in The Falklands, told Times Online: "Our season only officially started last weekend and we took a small group off Explorer for lunch at a lagoon - they said they bid for their cruise at a charity auction and paid £120,000 for the two owner suites.

"It's bloody awful what has happened - apparently all from a fist sized hole! I only know that it hit the ice. She was a very characterful and popular ship."

The Explorer is owned and operated by Canadian-based tour operator GAP Adventures. Built in 1969, it has recently undergone a refit costing several million pounds.

Explore had 14 passengers onboard and the UK manager of another tour operator, Peregrine Adventures, said it was "very, very likely" that more Britons would be onboard. Jarrod Kyte added: "The general feeling is that it is going to be another record season."

His company is one of 38 tour operators that are members of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), set by 16 years ago to address tourism issues affecting the region. GAP Adventures is also a member - but some operators are not and Kyte raised concerns about the type of some ships visiting Antarctica.

"There are two different types of voyages - the small expedition or icebreakers who are very much about getting off ships and then the big floating hotels whose passengers see the Antarctic from heated cabins.

"There are an alarming number of ships that take passengers there that you have to question whether they should be there at all. I'm not talking about Explorer but the big ships - you question why they are there.

"The mind boggles at the logistics of getting 800 people and crew off a huge ship. And are these ships eqipped for ice conditions, or stable enough enough for these sorts of water?"

The IAATO held its annual general meeting in Australia last June, and one of the main discussions was the use of unsuitable ships in icy conditions. But at the same agm, IAATO extended its review of landing sites in Antarctica by 13 - to make a total of 45 being investigated.

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey are thought to have been in the region this summer helping to investigate suitable landing sites that will have minimum impact on the enviroment and wildlife. The relentless rise in adventure tourism continues unabated.

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