MV ''Ocean Adventurer'' is an ice-capable 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 ...

operating commercial voyages to both

polar regions The polar regions, also called the frigid geographical zone, zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole, North and South Poles), lying within the pol ...

, with Terra Nova Expeditions and formally with

Quark Expeditions Quark Expeditions, a travel company headquartered in Seattle, Washington (as of 2017), offers Polar regions of Earth, polar region expeditions aboard expedition ships and icebreakers. The itinerary changes between polar regions with the season ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, United States. The vessel was previously been registered as ''Clipper Adventurer,'' and was renamed as ''Sea Adventurer'' on 1 October 2012. She is the sister ship to . Built in 1975 in the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

as ''Alla Tarasova'', she underwent a $13 million refit in 1998 managed by Master Mariner AB, Sweden. During the summer of 2009 Adventure Canada of

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

, Ontario, Canada carried passengers through the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

on ''Clipper Adventurer''. On 27 August 2010, ''Clipper Adventurer'' ran aground on a supposedly uncharted rock in the waters of

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

Coronation Gulf Coronation Gulf lies between Victoria Island (Canada), Victoria Island and mainland Nunavut in Canada. To the northwest it connects with Dolphin and Union Strait and thence the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean; to the northeast it connects with De ...

during a cruise. The collision damaged the ship's ballast and fuel tanks, leading pollution to be released into the Coronation Gulf. 128 passengers and 69 crew members were stranded until they were rescued by . It was later found that the rock was indeed a known hazard and had already been properly reported by the

Canadian Hydrographic Service ''Retired Canadian Hydrographic Service logo or crest'' The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) is part of the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is Canada's authoritative hydrographic office. The CHS represents Canada in ...

. The salvage job was awarded to Resolve Marine Group, a Florida-based Salvage company. On 18 September 2010, the ship was successfully towed into

Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: Inuktitut syllabics, Inuktitut: ; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 1,760; Census geographic units of Canada#Population centres, population centre 1,403) is a Hamlet (place)#Canada, hamlet located on Victoria Is ...

. The ship spent many years chartered by Quark Expeditions sailing to Antarctica. Quark announced that the ship would be decommissioned from their fleet in October 2024. In 2025, ''Ocean Adventurer'' returned to Antarctica with Terra Nova Expeditions, a new expedition cruise line founded by industry veterans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean Adventurer Expedition cruising Cruise ships 1975 ships Passenger ships of the Soviet Union Ships built in Yugoslavia