Arctic cruise companies merge

The cruise ship, the Clipper Adventurer, operated by Adventure Canada, was stranded Aug. 27 in the Coronation Gulf after it grounded on a shoal. (FILE PHOTO)

The Lyubov Orlova is seen at anchor off Somerset Island during a Cruise North cruise of the High Arctic in Sept. 2009. In 2010, Transport Canada postponed the ship’s first cruise departure from St. John’s after finding mechanical problems. Then, ship was barred from leaving the port of St. John’s after its return in September because of its owner’s unpaid debts. (FILE PHOTO)

Adventure Canada, the Mississauga, Ont.-based adventure travel company, has taken a majority stake in a new partnership with Makivik-Corp. owned Cruise North Expeditions, Cruise North announced last week.

Cruise North Expeditions said it would will continue to offer Arctic cruises “with the cultural content and Inuit staffing that has become a trademark of Cruise North Expeditions.”

The merger comes after both companies suffered unexpected crises last year.

The Clipper Adventurer, operated by Adventure Canada, ran aground Aug. 27 east of Kugluktuk, after running into an underwater cliff.

It sightseeing detour in the Coronation Gulf left it marooned Aug. 27 on a shoal 90 kilometres, and led to an emergency evacuation of its 100-plus passengers and crew by the Coast Guard research icebreaker, the Amundsen.

The Clipper Adventurer, which had at least a dozen watertight compartments breached when hit the shoal, came perilously close to sinking even as it was towed away Sept. 14 with the help of four commercial tugs.

But the Clipper Adventurer “has benefited from extensive renovation and offers an ideal blend of safety, comfort and functionality that makes it a leader in the field,” says the Feb. 16 release on the deal between Adventure Canada and Cruise North.

The Cruise North web site shows its 2011 cruises will continue to use the Clipper Adventurer’s sister ship, the Lyubov Orlova, which also had a rough season in 2010.

The Lyubov Orvlova was waylaid in St. John’s in June after inspectors found problems with a mechanical piping system, The Lyubov Orlova was in port for 15 days, before being cleared by inspectors last July 9.

But that was too late for Cruise North’s first trip of the season, an 11-night trip from St. John’s to Kuujjuaq, via the Labrador coast.

Canadian officials then seized the Lyubov Orlova Sept. 24 because its Russian owner, Oleg Uliyanchenko, alleged to owe more than $250,000 to Cruise North.

More than 50 Russian and Ukrainian crew members were also owed more than $350,000 in wages. After being stranded in St. John’s for more two months, they finally left in December.

Starting in 2012, Adventure Canada and Cruise North Expeditions continue plan to offer joint cruises with Inuit staff, itineraries and programs specially designed to bring benefit and opportunity to the people who call the Arctic home, the Feb. 16 news release says.

Cruise North Expeditions was founded in 2005 by Makivik and, since then, the company earned a place on Conde Nast Traveller’s prestigious “Green List” for its “environmental efforts and commitment to helping preserve Inuit culture through tourism.”

Adventure Canada has offered “comfortable and educational voyages to the Arctic, and the world,” since 1988, winning awards from the Travel Industry Association of Canada Business of the Year Award, Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cruise Vision Award and the National Geographic Top 100 Tour Company Award.