During this Semi-Circumnavigation of Antarctica we plan to visit the Phantom Coast, the only passenger expedition to do so in 2008. Explorer Richard E. Byrd gave the coast that lies between Palmer Peninsula and Thurston Island its ghostly title. For two centuries, the ice-locked coastline defied the efforts of explorers to chart it.
In the early 1960s, the US Navy mounted icebreaker operations in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas. USS Glacier and USS Staten Island, equipped with helicopters penetrated farther than any previous surface vessels. Using aerial reconnaissance crews from the icebreakers rewrote the maps, confirming that Thurston Peninsula was actually an island.
More than forty years later, exploring the Phantom Coast is still a challenge for all but the toughest vessels. However, the purpose-built, polar class, icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov can meet even this challenge.
In the early 1960s, the US Navy mounted icebreaker operations in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas. USS Glacier and USS Staten Island, equipped with helicopters penetrated farther than any previous surface vessels. Using aerial reconnaissance crews from the icebreakers rewrote the maps, confirming that Thurston Peninsula was actually an island.
More than forty years later, exploring the Phantom Coast is still a challenge for all but the toughest vessels. However, the purpose-built, polar class, icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov can meet even this challenge.
For additional itinerary details please call 1-800-777-8183
A Semi-Circumnavigation of Antarctica: The Phantom Coast
Trip Details
2008 Departures:
31 days
Activity Type:
Expeditionary Voyaging
Trip Price:From $19,900
- November 13 - December 13
31 daysActivity Type:
Expeditionary Voyaging
Trip Price:
From $19,900
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