''Piloto Pardo'' was a

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Ori ...

auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxili ...

from 1959 until 1997. After decommissioning she was converted to an Antarctic expedition

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

and operated as such until 2012 under the name MV ''Antarctic Dream''.

Ship history

The vessel was built for the

by the ''Haarlemsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij'' ("Haarlem Shipbuilding Company") of

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, Netherlands, launched on 11 June 1958, and commissioned on 7 April 1959. She was constructed specifically for servicing the scientific bases established in the

Chilean Antarctic Territory The Chilean Antarctic Territory, or Chilean Antarctica (, ), is a part of West Antarctica and nearby islands claimed by Chile. It comprises the region south of 60th parallel south, 60°S latitude and between longitudes 53rd meridian west, 53°W a ...

. The ship measures 83 meters overall length and 11.9 meters wide, with a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

of over 2,000 metric tons and a draught of 4.60 meters, with an ice-strengthened hull for polar navigation. The ship was christened ''Piloto Pardo'', after

Luis Pardo Luis Alberto Pardo Villalón (20 September 1882 – 21 February 1935) was a Chilean Navy officer who, in August 1916, commanded the steam tug to rescue the 22 stranded crewmen of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, , part of the Imper ...

, the captain of the cutter ''

Yelcho The ''Yelcho'' was built in 1906 by the Scottish firm Geo. Brown and Co. of Greenock, on the River Clyde for towage and cargo service of the Chilean ''Sociedad Ganadera e Industrial Yelcho y Palena'', Puerto Montt. In 1908 she was sold to the Ch ...

'', which rescued the stranded men of Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

Endurance Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Ernest Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the ...

from

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

, Antarctica, in August 1916. She was decommissioned in January 1997. In 1998 she was sold to Orlando Paoa of

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

, and renamed ''Hoto Matua''. In 2003 she was sold to Antarctic Shipping SA and converted into an Antarctic cruise ship in the ''Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada Chilena'' (

ASMAR The Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada ''(English: Navy Shipyards and Armories)'', better known by the acronym ASMAR, is a Chilean state-owned shipbuilding company with autonomous administration, which provides services to the Chilean Navy, mai ...

) shipyard, and renamed ''Antarctic Dream''. The refurbishing allowed a capacity of 80 passengers; 40 double cabins, all with exterior views. On 4 December 2008, the ship grounded at position 64°35.5'S 62°25'W, at the entrance of

Wilhelmina Bay Wilhelmina Bay () is a bay wide between the Reclus Peninsula and Cape Anna along the west coast of Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. Location Wilhelmina Bay is on the Danco Coast on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. It indents t ...

, near Cape Anna. The ''Antarctic Dream'' was the first vessel on the scene to assist passengers. Other vessels to assist were the ''National Geographic Explorer'', ''Professor Multanovskiy'' and ''Polar Star''. Antarctic Shipping SA suspended operations in July 2012. The boat complies with

MARPOL The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, or "MARPOL 73/78" (short for "marine pollution") is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. It ...

and is ISM and

ISPS ISPS may refer to: * Isoprene synthase The enzyme isoprene synthase (EC 4.2.3.27) catalysis, catalyzes the chemical reaction : prenyl pyrophosphate \rightleftharpoons isoprene + diphosphate This enzyme belongs to the family of lyases, specifical ...

certified. Antarctic Shipping SA was a member of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO). The ship was operated by Oceanwide Expeditions in Arctic waters, and by tour operators Adventure Smith Explorations, Adventure Life, Southern Explorations, Explore! in Antarctica. Since 2019 the ship was used as a sleeping and working place for UN personal during the UNMHA mission in Yemen, stationed in the harbor of Hodeida. In May 2020 the Antarctic Dream left Hodeida in regard of the security situation, heading towards Amman (Jordania).

References

External links

Itineraries and deckplans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piloto Pardo 1958 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Auxiliary ships of the Chilean Navy Expedition cruising