Readers Digest Presents "Lifeboat in Antarctica" On Newstands Around the World Now, Posted by Robert Paisola

Dateline November 2007,
Salt Lake City, Utah

"Hello, Is this Robert Paisola?" 'Yes, I replied'. "Hello, she said, I am Cathy Free, and I am a Senior Feature Writer for Readers Digest in New York" We would love to do a story on your sister Lisa Paisola" She Continued.

Having been dealing with the media for days on end since my sister Lisa Paisola and my Aunt Kay Van Horne had been on a sinking ship called the MS EXPLORER, I shouted "Contact our Agent, Max Marxon at Marxon Sparks, they are based in Australia, and we will see if we can work you in" I said. The thought never crossed my mind again.

But then she said something that no other reporter had said..

"Oh thats not a problem, We do not need to do the interview now, we want her to get better first...we are looking to do a story on Lisa for the April issue of Readers Digest" she said.

Wow! I began to think, "Wasn't this the same magazine my grandparents subscribed to when I was a kid?" "No, She Said, It is much different now!" Just go to www.rd.com and you can see.

Guess what, I did just that, and as I traveled the world for the next three months, I saw the same magazine in Russia, Mexico, England, France, Costa Rico, Argentina, Every Airport in the United States and even in Kiev, Ukraine. "There is something to this magazine" I said to our publicist, Max Marxon in Australia, "So, Lets Do It!" I said... Lisa Agreed.

To our friends around the globe who monitor this blog, to the Worldwide Media and to the rest of the passengers and Crew of the MS Explorer, we present you with The Readers Digest International Version (in 21 different languages and 50 different editions) of what happened to the famed "Little Red Boat", The MS Explorer, in Antarctica.

To your Success,
Robert Paisola
www.RobertPaisola.com

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Lifeboat in Antarctica
After her cruise ship sank in the Antarctic, one world traveler found herself on the ultimate adventure.
By Cathy Free
From Reader's Digest
April 2008


Shrill Announcement

Lisa Paisola had spent almost two weeks aboard a cruise ship in Antarctica's freezing temperatures, but she'd never felt cold like this. Huddled with 32 others in a metal lifeboat tossed by a fierce wind, she held her breath each time the craft dipped into the ocean and was splashed by heaving waves. The icy spray gave her an instant headache and numbed her cheeks. Dressed in long underwear, a thick sweater and waterproof pants and parka, Paisola still shivered uncontrollably and realized that she could no longer feel her toes.

She turned to her 63-year-old aunt, Kay Van Horne, who was pressed next to her. "This could be the last sunrise we'll ever see," she said, pointing to an orange glow in the distance. In a way, the scene was oddly beautiful, the towering icebergs cast in pastels by the dawning light.

Van Horne squeezed her niece's hand. "Let's not worry about something we can't control," she said quietly. "If it's our time to go, it's our time." For the next five hours, the women, floating in a freezing sea, relied on each other to keep hope alive.

A substitute teacher from Denver, Van Horne lived to travel. She and her equally adventurous niece had once trekked across Morocco on camelback. Paisola, 38, a real estate investor from North Salt Lake, Utah, had taken cruises to six different continents. The women each paid $15,000 for the Antarctica trip that, following the trail of the Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton, would take them to the bottom of the world.

But in Ushuaia, Argentina, where they were to board ship, Paisola laid eyes on the 39-year-old MS Explorer -- purposely compact to traverse the Southern Ocean's fjords -- and had second thoughts. As much as she wanted to make it to that seventh continent, she suddenly questioned the idea of spending 19 days on what looked like a fishing boat.

The laid-back Van Horne convinced her to put aside her concern, and the two settled into life on board, getting to know their 89 fellow passengers over leisurely dinners, taking wildlife tours led by seasoned experts to surrounding islands and enjoying the unspoiled frozen landscape around them.

After 12 days at sea, Paisola and Van Horne were getting ready for bed in their cozy cabin when they felt a sharp, jarring jolt. They had become accustomed to the sound the ship made as it cut through icy waters, but this was a loud thud that, to Paisola, signaled trouble. "Hurry -- dry your hair," she told her aunt, who'd just showered. "If anything happens, you don't want your hair wet."

"I feel like I should be watching Titanic," Van Horne responded sarcastically. "Since this could be a long night, maybe I'd better put on long johns." Sitting casually on the edge of her bed, she turned her hair dryer on high.

Minutes later, at around midnight, an alarm sounded, and the Explorer's captain, Bengt Wiman, made a shrill announcement over the intercom: "This is not a drill. Get on your arctic gear and come immediately to the muster station!" The passengers had been briefed before leaving port that, in an emergency, they would be called to the muster station, or lounge, the designated gathering place.

Tempting Fate

Paisola began to tremble. "Hearing that alarm," she says, "I just knew that I was going to die." Re-creating Shackleton's voyage suddenly seemed like tempting fate. In 1915 his ship, the Endurance, had been crushed by ice in the Southern Ocean, and his team, marooned on Elephant Island, wasn't rescued for almost two years.

Major cruise ship disasters are rare today. Medical crises, men overboard and petty crime occur, but the risk of a modern liner sinking is extremely low. Still, last April, the luxurious MS Sea Diamond went down after running aground off Santorini, Greece. Two of its nearly 1,200 passengers are missing and believed to have drowned. The Explorer was about to make news in much colder waters.

Paisola and Van Horne pulled on their polar gear and rushed to the lounge. Seeing that a few passengers were still in their pajamas, Paisola dashed back to her cabin to fetch a large bag of winter wear. "I brought extra because I don't like to be cold," she says.

She set the bag of long underwear, gloves and socks in the middle of the room so that anybody who needed them could take them. The captain quickly explained that the ship had hit submerged ice and, despite a reinforced hull, sustained a fist-size tear. Several crew members were attempting to repair the leak, but, the captain admitted, flood-control efforts didn't appear to be working. Water was seeping up through the toilets, a sign the ship was going down.

Paisola took a seat at the lounge computer and dashed off e-mails to family members, saying she loved them and attaching a rough copy of her will. Then she offered her e-mail account to her shipmates, but none came forward. "Everybody was sitting there in shock," she says. "They couldn't believe we were sinking."

Wiman announced that he had put out a distress call and that three ships in the area had offered help, but the closest was six hours away. A little after 1 a.m., with the Explorer listing dramatically, he came over the intercom once more. "Abandon ship!" he repeated three times. They would have to ride out the night in lifeboats.

Linking arms as they made their way to the now steeply pitched deck, Paisola and Van Horne looked down on a black sea, roiling with whitecaps. Ever optimistic, Van Horne quipped, "At least there are enough lifeboats." She watched crew members hurriedly assemble rescue equipment. "We had to believe we would survive," she says, "or we'd have torn our hair out."

To break the tension, a couple broke out in the Monty Python song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." All Paisola could think about, she admits, was the orchestra playing for the doomed passengers on the Titanic.

Thirty-one people, including two crew members, squeezed into lifeboat No. 3 with Paisola and Van Horne. With a screech, their small craft swung away from the ship. "We held our breath," recalls Van Horne, "hoping we wouldn't tumble out."

Seconds later, the boat dropped into the sea. The crew members struggled unsuccessfully to start the engine as the next lifeboat descended overhead, its propellers spinning. "They can't see us!" shouted one passenger, Andy White. "We've got to get away from the ship or we'll be crushed!"

A naval architect from Essex, England, White, 51, had been a champion rower. He grabbed an oar to push off from the Explorer. When it snapped in two, he found another. This time, he and a passenger next to him were able to maneuver the boat far enough away to start rowing, only to find they were headed directly into a seven-foot-high block of pack ice. The winds made navigating impossible; with no engine, they were at the mercy of the waves. White figured they'd slam into the huge mass within minutes.

Spotting an ax mounted on the lifeboat's forward bulkhead, he got an idea. "I decided that if we came alongside the pack, I could cut some steps," he says, "and lead people onto the ice." They had a chance.

Kindness and Hope

The boat grew quiet, and seasickness took hold. Several people leaned overboard to vomit. Paisola found an old Dramamine tablet in her camera case and told her aunt to open her mouth. She and Van Horne then passed out some extra hand warmers they'd brought along. "Keep the circulation going!" Van Horne called out.

There were other small acts of kindness as they drifted in the cold. Eli Charne, 38, a photographer from Irvine, California, had fled his flooding cabin when the Explorer hit the ice, leaving behind all his camera equipment. He found himself in the lifeboat without a stitch of waterproof clothing. A passenger gave him one of his gloves, and another shared a blanket. Next to him, two women encouraged him to wiggle his hands and feet. "I was so weak, I couldn't stop shivering," says Charne. "But any help that anybody offered gave you hope."

Paisola raised spirits when she rolled out a yellow rain poncho. Her shipmates had teasingly called her Superman for wearing the billowing cape on excursions to view penguins and seals. But in the lifeboat, as many as a dozen passengers found protection under the enormous slicker.

Hunkered down in the bow, White spotted two crew members approaching in an inflatable raft. The pair tossed over a rope so they could tow the disabled lifeboat behind them. White wouldn't need the ax after all, but he feared they were still in danger. So did his girlfriend, Lee Moulton, a 50-year-old nurse, who noticed that many of her shipmates were pale and trembling. Within hours, they would be at risk of hypothermia.

Moulton was especially worried about Braden Hanna of Ontario, Canada, at 18 the Explorer's youngest passenger. Wanting to see Antarctica's icebergs firsthand and warn others about the effects of global warming, he had saved for years to pay for the cruise. "I was looking for adventure, and I got it," he told Moulton. "This is a pretty weird situation to be in without my mum and dad."

Hanna's thin trousers were soaked through. Wrapping her arms around the rangy teen, Moulton whispered, "Cuddle up to me. I'll keep you warm." The nurse noticed another man, who was sweating profusely, even in the frigid wind. "I was concerned for all of us," she says. "Our bodies were starting to chill down." Though a few people carried on muted conversations, most waited in silence.

Van Horne thought about her grandchildren while Paisola prayed quietly. "I was making every deal with God you can imagine," she says.

Shortly before dawn, a helicopter, believed to have been sent from a nearby military base, buzzed overhead. As the lifeboaters waved and shouted, Paisola turned to her aunt and said, "Finally somebody else on the planet knows that we're out here."

Andy White noticed that Bob Flood, an ornithologist who had led the group on shorebird-watching tours, looked pale and withdrawn. "Hang on, Bob," White told him. "By this time tomorrow, I'll be buying you a drink."

About two hours later, a passenger spotted a ship on the horizon. "It was a flicker of light the size of a pinhead," recalls Paisola. Slowly the speck became larger until everyone could make out the Nordnorge, a Norwegian cruise ship. It had braved numerous ice floes to reach the doomed Explorer in under five hours.

All 154 of the marooned travelers were transferred to the Nordnorge, where they were offered dry clothing by cruisers eager to help. When a woman handed Paisola a blanket, "I started to cry and couldn't stop," she says. She was joined by others who wept openly when the Nordnorge captain took them past the Explorer, tipped on its side like a dying whale.

"It broke my heart," says Van Horne. "There's something about Antarctica -- the whites, the blues, the grays, that barren landscape of ice and rock. It's a spiritual place. Knowing the ship was going down was hard to take."

Amazingly, most of the Explorer's passengers, from 14 different countries, came through no worse for wear. Two crew members suffered mild hypothermia, and a passenger twisted an ankle climbing onto the rescue craft. Transported to King George Island, two and a half hours from where their ship went down, the group spent a few nights at an Antarctic research center before they were airlifted to a military base in Chile to begin their individual journeys home.

An investigation into the disaster is under way, and representatives for G.A.P Adventures, owner of the Explorer, will not confirm reports that the company has offered to reimburse passengers $8,000 for the portion of the trip they didn't complete, along with $1,300 for the belongings they left behind. That doesn't come close to covering what Paisola lost to the sea, but, safely back in Utah, she prefers to focus on the positive. "The stars had to have been lined up perfectly for all of us to survive," she says.

She has joined two online newsgroups, set up by Andy White and Eli Charne, to stay in touch with fellow passengers. So far, some 60 others have logged on, posting photos, comments and messages of support.

Meanwhile, Paisola is ready to plan her next trip. Though she didn't make it to Antarctica's mainland to cross that seventh continent off her list, she's got other priorities. "From now on when I travel," she says, "I want to be warm."

The Salon of Italy in Salt Lake City Utah, An Essential Part of the Team, Brooke Tells her Secrets! Posted by Robert Paisola

"We proudly use Pureology, Sexy Hair, Matrix, and American Crew. Redken Is our color line, an award winner for it's products. Murad is our skin care line and we are proud to have their research and development behind our products and training. The esthetic staff has training from Murad and can help you address a skin care issue and plan a program." said Brooke, the Hair Designer from Salt Lake City that was Chosen by NBC to create the beautiful look that was seen all over the world, as Lisa Paisola attended interview after interview, all over the world.

"I am so excited that we were chosen, said Brooke" the senior stylist and artist who designed Lisa's Hairstyle, The Salon of Italy is truly on the cutting edge, and we are honored that NBC Television and Lisa Paisola would choose our salon. ' We know that NBC was pushing designers from New York and Beverly Hills, however, we just knew what Lisa Wanted" said Brooke.

And that is exactly what Lisa got, so as the cameras rolled, and as the soundmen and camera crews that had flown in to Salt Lake City, Utah to cover the story of the MS Explorer listened to the remote control rooms in New York City and Los Angeles, we heard the magic words "Wow, she looks amazing"

"That is when we knew that Lisa Paisola's decision to choose Brooke and The Salon of Italy over every other stylist in the nation was the right move" and the NBC Executive Team even went a step further, creating a special campaign based on Lisa's appearance on the TODAY SHOW WITH ANN CURRY called "Why I love today" and this is shown on the International NBC networks every day...."Something must be working" said Lisa! Thanks Brooke and the Salon of Italy for your dedication and desire to go "above and beyond"

Class Action Lawsuit in Progress against MS EXPLORER Bruce Poon Tip

For Immediate Release
From The Western Capital Foundation and www.MSEXPLORER.net

Dateline Los Angeles, California- Robert Paisosla

We have just verified that certain members of the survivor group are in the process of filing an international marintine legal action against GAP Adventures and their CEO Bruce Poon Tip.

Western Capital has obtained copies of all of the logs and reports outlining the ships deficiencies that were known PRIOR to embarkation of the Antarctic Liner.

All comments should be directed to classaction@msexplorer.net or:

The Western Capital Foundation
Attention: Robert Paisola
63 East 11400 South
Suite 221
Sandy, Utah 84070

All media relations matters should be directed to media.affairs@msexplorer.net


Bruce Poon Tip: Growth guru
Rick Spence
From the March 2008 issue of PROFIT magazine
The summer sun shines above the ruins of Machu Picchu, high in the Peruvian Andes. In Thailand, the moon is rising as American, Canadian and Aussie tourists vie for bargains at Chiang Rai’s bustling night bazaar. Both locations are among the favourite destinations of Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G.A.P Adventures Inc., the world’s biggest adventure-travel firm. But on this cold day in mid-December, Poon Tip might prefer to be anywhere other than in his exposed-brick Toronto headquarters, negotiating with a tough Russian shipping line to lease an icebreaker to fulfill a commitment to his partners and customers half a world away.

In the 17 years since he founded G.A.P Adventures, the world has been Poon Tip’s oyster. But now geography was working against him. Three weeks earlier, on Nov. 23, 2007, G.A.P’s $10-million icebreaker, the MS Explorer, sprung a leak as it squeezed through pack ice just off the northernmost tip of Antarctica. Some 150 passengers and crew abandoned ship as it slowly listed to starboard. The passengers and crew drifted five hours in open lifeboats before being scooped up by three passenger vessels that had steamed to the rescue. The bone-chilling sea had been blessedly calm, so some passengers called it the best adventure they’d ever had.

Still, the world’s media hammered at the story for days — questioning deficiencies in Explorer’s maintenance logs and staking out Poon Tip’s Toronto home in their breathless search for news.In the end, all the passengers arrived home amid promises of compensation and seats on future trips. But G.A.P’s problems weren’t over. Customers booked on upcoming Antarctic cruises were demanding to know what G.A.P was doing for them.

As a champion of customer experiences, Poon Tip can’t stand disappointing passengers. He sent a few team members to look over the Polaris, a Danish-built icebreaker sitting out the winter in frosty Murmansk, 1,500 km northwest of Moscow. Since Polaris carries only 65 passengers compared with Explorer’s 99, operating the new icebreaker would cost G.A.P more money than simply cancelling the Antarctic season. But Poon Tip and his management team agreed it was the right thing to do — for the customers and booking agencies who depend on them.

Still, hiring Polaris was another story. The owner, Murmansk Shipping Co., treats the Arctic expedition vessel like a favourite child. When Poon Tip offered to charter the ship, Murmansk officials dragged their heels. They wanted more money, they needed more time. With January passengers anxiously awaiting news, Poon Tip sent an e-mail requesting the ship leave as soon as possible. The two sides finally reached agreement, but the next day Murmansk demanded more money. “This negotiation is so tough. I don’t know if we’re going to get anything out of these guys,” a weary Poon Tip said at a G.A.P managers’ meeting. While he was willing to lose some money on this grand gesture, there had to be a limit. So he told the Russians to forget it. The next day, Murmansk backed down on the price and offered to ship out in three days.

negotiator. But he is still the determined person who rejected a motorcoach tour of Thailand in favour of a healthier hike along the back roads to remote villages. Poon Tip’s love for local cultures, and his commitment to change the way people vacation, have helped him negotiate his way to the top of the fast-growing adventure-travel business. From a startup company faxing out brochures in a Toronto garage, launched on $10,000 in savings and a $5,000 advance from VISA, G.A.P Adventures has become a $120-million-a-year colossus. Offering 1,000 tours on seven continents, it serves 70,000 customers a year. Last fall, National Geographic Adventure magazine ranked G.A.P as the world’s No. 1 “do it all” tour outfitter. But as the sinking of the Explorer suggests, G.A.P’s journey hasn’t been easy. And now that it sits atop its niche, things aren’t getting any easier.

“There’s no precedent for a company of our size in this industry,” says Poon Tip. And he’s learning that “it’s always more difficult to be the one being chased than the one doing the chasing. It’s something I’ve worked very hard for, but it still takes a lot of adjustment.”

Besides staring down Russian shipping companies, the challenges on Poon Tip’s desk include finding new ways to hang onto G.A.P’s prime customers, fighting off a costly legal offensive by San Francisco-based clothing retailer Gap Inc. and outmaneuvring countless copycats plus TUI Travel PLC, a £12-billion-a-year travel giant that’s acquired numerous G.A.P rivals. Bigger yet is the task of perpetuating G.A.P’s spirit, creativity and core values as the firm becomes a sprawling global entity run by professional managers rather than entrepreneurial instinct.

With such a busy in-tray, you might think Poon Tip longs to grab a pith helmet and set out for Africa. But that’s not so. “I’m not done,” he says. “I’ve only just developed this company to a point where I can do what I want to do. I’m working hard, but I’m having more fun than ever.”

Indeed, Poon Tip was an entrepreneur long before he was a backpacker. Born in Trinidad to Spanish-Chinese parents who moved to Jamaica and then to Calgary to seek a better life for their seven children, Poon Tip grew up working hard. “I had three businesses before I was 16,” he says. “I think of G.A.P as my fourth company.”

While his father was building a chain of gas stations, 12-year-old Bruce was acquiring paper routes and subcontracting delivery to 10-year-olds too young for routes of their own. He later bred Dutch dwarf rabbits for sale to Calgary pet shops. And at 14 he won a Junior Achievement award after he organized local children to produce colour-changing bookmarks that he persuaded pharmacists to stock beside their cash registers. He sold more than 10,000, he says: “I couldn’t get them made fast enough.”

Studying business at Calgary’s Mount Royal College, Poon Tip indulged his love of travel with a tour of Thailand. He was disturbed by his experience. “I was quite young and very political,” he says. “It angered me the way these air-conditioned coaches and Western environments are created for tourists. You never really come in contact with the local people.” He much preferred solo travel, riding local buses, staying in family-run hotels and eating indigenous foods. Not everyone, he knew, was ready for such an uncertain adventure, but he sensed demand for low-cost, grassroots adventures that travellers don’t have to plan themselves.

Based on his childhood business successes, Poon Tip moved to Toronto and launched G.A.P Adventures in 1990. You think that’s confidence? His first brochure proudly warned, “If you’d like all the comforts of home, we suggest you stay home.”

Starting the company was easy, says Poon Tip: identify core destinations, then find young people who love exploring foreign lands to create and lead the tours in low-impact groups that never numbered more than 12 people. The company grew quickly by appealing to a new breed of traveller: single tourists, many of them women. Even today, G.A.P eschews the “singles supplements” that price many tours and cruises out of reach for lone travellers.

Marketing through live seminars and slide shows, within five years G.A.P was offering tours on five continents. Poon Tip’s “gap” had turned into a gusher. G.A.P’s brand of “responsible tourism” has emerged as the ideal solution for increasingly socially conscious travellers. Today, the market for adventure travel is thought to be growing by 20% a year, as more travellers seek out gorillas in Uganda, cooking classes in Peru or elephant rides in India. G.A.P has grown its revenue by at least 30% every year, not just by creating a new type of tourism but by branding it as its own. Poon Tip has become a high-profile proponent of ecotourism and social responsibility. He has worked with the World Bank to help impoverished Third-World villages finance new tourist lodges, while G.A.P was one of the first tour companies to pull out of Burma after the military junta forced G.A.P to use low-paid government contractors instead of letting the company make more generous deals with local suppliers.

Whether through high ideals, slide shows, travel agents or its ever-growing website, G.A.P has always been a marketing machine. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to run a good tour,” Poon Tip told PROFIT in 2003. “The skill is in the selling.”

Although G.A.P today has almost 600 employees and 20 offices around the world, the spirit of 1990 still rules. As president, CEO and keeper of the company’s Birkenstock culture, Poon Tip insists that G.A.P stays true to its entrepreneurial roots. Although he has hired more senior managers from outside in recent years, Poon Tip is careful to bring in people who match the business’s image as a “company of travellers.” And he makes sure potential executives know that they’ll have to adjust to his management style, which combines hands-off detachment with high expectations of service quality and a relentless appetite for innovation. “We know we work for a guy who has a new idea every time he gets out of the shower,” says one G.A.P manager.

Most of all, Poon Tip demands growth. “I’m a builder,” he says. “As long as I’m here, I’m going to continue to push.” A bigger G.A.P, he insists, has the opportunity to become a better company, with the resources and customer numbers to push innovation and expand tours into areas no one else can — in West Africa, for instance, or Iran. “With size, we can do more.”

Poon Tip has his admirers. Benson Cowan, CEO of Toronto’s Butterfield & Robinson, a luxury tour operator, says he has been watching G.A.P’s boss for years: “I think he’s one of the rare Canadian entrepreneurs who really has a sense of how to build a brand and build a company, and what he has done is impressive.” Noting that the typical price of a G.A.P trip ($900) is equivalent to the single supplement on a Butterfield & Robinson holiday, Cowan praises G.A.P’s ability to turn a profit on lean margins. “They run a tight ship,” he says. “The high-volume, low-margin makes for a hard fight, so you have to be really good at it.”

But Poon Tip bristles at suggestions that G.A.P’s margins are substandard. “Our margins are the same or better than anyone’s,” he says. “Our price points are less because of our volume.” He says G.A.P’s profit this year should be between 6% and 10%.

So how does G.A.P maintain its growth pace? Here are five key strategies:

»Expanding product lines. Since its first hiking trip, G.A.P has consistently branched into new destinations, means of transport (boats! bikes!) and travel “styles.” It now has 12 classes of experience, from “Roam” for no-frills 20-somethings to special-interest tours for photographers and gourmets, among others.

(Poon Tip complains that as fast as G.A.P develops new trips, other companies copy them. Still, no competitor can hope to match its volumes: in 2007, G.A.P developed 250 new trips.

»Deeper relationships with other travel marketers. For instance, G.A.P has preferred relationships with certain air-flight specialists such as Flight Centre, and recently signed a marketing deal with Expedia.ca, which G.A.P hopes will lead to deals with Expedia operations in other countries.

»Acquisitions. Early on, G.A.P had no ability to sell airfares, and the airlines weren’t willing to deal with new, small players. In 2002, G.A.P bought Global Connections, a Vancouver-based flight consolidator specializing in low-cost airfares to Latin America, to get its hands on a critical mass of wholesale seat licenses. In five years, it tripled that initial volume. Similarly, Poon Tip created a new line of business when he bought the Explorer out of dry dock. Antarctic tours were expected to produce almost 10% of G.A.P’s sales this year, revenue that G.A.P is hoping to regain next season with another ship.

»Innovative marketing. The Great Adventure People TV show, which chronicles some of G.A.P’s most exciting trips, is now shooting a new season of shows for CTV’s travel channel and other broadcasters. And at a time when travel bookings are massively migrating online, Poon Tip has opened profitable storefront outlets in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, New York and Melbourne. “No one but me would invest in bricks and mortar these days,” he says, “but it proves our market leadership.”

»Target marketing. G.A.P prides itself on staying in touch with its market. Under marketing VP Susan Hayes, a former Workopolis.com executive who joined G.A.P last May, the firm has focused its ad campaign on supplier relationships, and is revamping its website to create more of a community for adventurers. “I have a boss who lets me run,” says Hayes, “so the sky’s the limit.”

With last fall’s merger of U.K.-based First Choice and the tourism division of Germany’s TUI AG into TUI Travel PLC, Poon Tip and the rest of the industry face a formidable competitor with 30 million clients in 180 countries. The new TUI houses more than 100 brands of travel agencies, airlines and tour operators, including more than 30 G.A.P rivals. The threat is that TUI will use integrated operations and marketing to reduce costs and tie up customers forever. But Poon Tip says companies bought by TUI rarely live up to their billing, perhaps because their former owners rarely hang around long. “We eventually eclipse those companies because we’re able to be more nimble and creative,” he says.

When asked the source of G.A.P’s competitive advantage, Poon Tip is quick to credit his people. His company has one product: service. And it has to provide that product to small groups all over the world, week after week. If it can’t provide flawless logistics and unique experiences, customers will never return.

Poon Tip rarely gets involved in hiring (or other day-to-day operations) anymore. His role is to hatch ideas, plan for the future and jump in when he can make a difference (as in the negotiations with Murmansk). Although Poon Tip interviews only top management candidates now, he says his attitude-based hiring formula permeates the company, separating the doers from the dreamers:

»Hire people who are passionate about the product. If they aren’t so now, how will they motivate themselves or others later? (All G.A.P staff get four weeks’ holidays and a free trip per year.)

»Probe an applicant’s mindset with specific questions. “I want to know how people handle certain situations, what problems they've worked on, how they pitch ideas, how they would describe their work ethic.” If a candidate sounds too smooth, ask how someone else — say, a colleague or subordinate — would describe their work style. “Within five minutes I can tell if you’re a winner.”

»Interview for culture fit. At G.A.P, second interviews for senior positions are attended by the full management team, who later voice their opinions. Poon Tip admits that running his choices by that team has prevented him from making several hiring mistakes.

»Maintain a culture that encourages effort yet acknowledges individualism. “Ninety percent of our success comes from building a winning culture,” says Poon Tip. “As long as we’re true to our company culture, we'll get people wanting to fly the flag for us.”

Still, sometimes G.A.P’s service slips up. Some clients complain of trips cancelled without explanation. Others question their tour leaders’ commitments to their group. But some of the harshest criticisms have emerged from the Explorer sinking. While some passengers praised the care they received from the ship’s crew and G.A.P’s staff on the ground, others are complaining of negligence and worse: they say the launching of the lifeboats was sloppily handled, and that the lifeboats were overcrowded and inadequately supplied. Once the passengers were safe on the ground, they say, their need for new clothes or information on how to get home was largely ignored. “I was very unhappy with the treatment we received and the lack of follow-through,” says one unhappy passenger who waited days to find a pair of shoes his size to replace those left behind on the ship.

G.A.P, which sent several senior managers to South America to work with the stranded survivors, insists that most passengers were happy with the way things worked out — and that some even booked passage on the Polaris to finish their tour. The truth will undoubtedly emerge from investigations now under way. But G.A.P’s executive team got top marks from most observers for their handling of logistics, the media and communications with family throughout the crisis. “They’re obviously a well-run company to get through that,” notes Butterfield & Robinson’s Cowan. “On our trips, if our bike seats are too hard, we hear about it.”

The disaster “was a test for us,” says Poon Tip. “You rehearse these things all the time, but you never really know if you’ll be ready.” He admits he had little to do with handling the crisis. Each member of his critical-incident management team (basically, his top executives) worked in his or her own area, doing what they do best, with little need for guidance or direction. In a way, it was a vindication of the G.A.P management model, says Sol Mandel, the firm’s COO. A part-timer who mainly oversees financial and legal affairs, but not trip operations, Mandel helped set up the company’s management structure. He believes the fact that Poon Tip is so hands-off has encouraged development of a whole team of leaders — entrepreneurs, in effect, who take full responsibility for their departments and their results. That willingness to take the initiative meant no one needed to be told what to do on Nov. 23.

But that’s hardly the end of G.A.P’s adventures. In January, Poon Tip spent two days being examined by lawyers for Gap as part of the retail giant’s trademark-protecting lawsuit, which coincided with the opening of his retail stores. Poon Tip claims not to understand what Gap is after: “There is nothing more unattractive to me than being associated with that brand.” He says hundreds of firms in North America have “Gap” in their name. He considers the lawsuit a crude attempt by a giant company to intimidate his firm: “The court date is years and millions of dollars away.” Couldn’t he end it by changing the company’s name? Maybe, says Poon Tip, “But why would I do that? Our name isn’t the same. There are periods in our name. There’s ‘Adventures’ on the end.” He doesn’t seem to be giving an inch.

In fact, Poon Tip seems pretty sure about how the future looks. He says the company will continue to grow, through both expansion and acquisition. Maybe he’ll buy some more companies, get into book publishing or possibly open some exotically themed (but authentic) restaurants. The one certainty is that he expects G.A.P to be a $500-million company in five years. Despite numerous offers to sell the company, he doesn’t expect to exit G.A.P any time soon. “I used to have this idea that I wanted to do something different — to prove that I wasn’t just a one-trick pony,” he says. “But that was in my youth. Maybe I am just a one-trick pony, and I’ll have to be satisfied with that.

“It’s a pretty good trick, after all.”

Live Video of Lisa Paisola on Inside Edition USA, Posted by Robert Paisola

The copyrights appearing in this belong to their respective owners, King World Productions for Inside Edition USA and Lisa Paisola and Robert Paisola Inc. for Video Footage.

Live Video of Lisa Paisola on NBC Today Show, Posted by Robert Paisola

The copyrights appearing in this belong to their respective owners, NBC for The Today Show and Lisa Paisola and Robert Paisola Inc. for Video Footage.

The Terrors of The Antarctic, By Robert Paisola

This is video that was shot Live aboard the MS Explorer. This video will show you the intensity of the waves that can be swwn in this dramatic footage. This video may be disturbing for young children.



Robert Paisola
www.MsExplorer.net

The Video the World has been Waiting For, Posted by Robert Paisola

Hello Again to all of our friends and neighbors around the world,

This is a quick update to let you know that the link below will lead you to 36 minutes of video coverage of The MS Explorer Disaster. You will see National, International and local stories INCLUDING the much awaited Inside Edition Interview.

This is a large file, so you can either download it or you can simply wait for the windows media player buffering process to complete. It is absolutely worth the wait.

We are preparing much more data on this and are going as a Family to New York City, NY to appear on a Special Edition of Dateline to be aired in the USA on the NBC television network.

Again, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Here is the video...just be patient or simply right click, save as and let it ride!

This video is being released for educational purposes and MAY NOT be redistributed.

The Copyrights of the News Stations belong to their respective organizations.

Robert Paisola
CEO
The Western Capital Foundation
801-619-4700
robert@mycollector.com

Difunden video de pasajera del "Explorer" que grabó choque contra iceberg en la Antártica, Posted by Roberto Paisola

Watch Live Video From Santiago Chile on the Sinking of the MS Explorer on www.terra.cl

http://terratv.terra.cl/templates/channelContents.aspx?channel=12&contentid=24190

There is a possibility that you can stay here for 2 weeks....Ahhh NO! Posted by Robert Paisola

OFFICIAL MEDIA UPDATE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday November 26, 2007
8:05 MST

Salt Lake City, Utah - By Robert Paisola

Last night at around 11:00 PM MST, I received a call from an operator in Chile stating that there was an International Call waiting for "Mr. Robert" . I accepted the call and found my sister at the other end of the line.

After a few moments of tears, she told me that she "would have died, had it not been for the way she was treated by the people at Gap Tours." This surprised me, as I was looking into the company, the way a shark looks at fresh meat. There were documented problems on that ship, The MS Explorer, I said to Lisa, and she said that under no circumstances was I to say or do anything against this incredible company.

So that ended that investigation very quickly. Thank you Gap Tours.

Next Lisa told me that she had no concept of day or night and that she had a 5:00 am wake up call. She also said that she did not understand how come so many people knew her bt her first name. I told her that she was "receiving a lot of press from around the world" , She said that she knew that something was happening but could not figure it out.

She also said that there were a lot of rumors about how she would get home. She said that she was told that it could take up to a week to get back to the United States.

I told her that there was no way in the world that it would take more than one day to get home. I told her we would call the CEO of Delta Airlines, if that is what it took to get her and the rest of the North American Citizens home. She said "Do you promise Rob, that you will get me back to Salt Lake City" I said yes.

I do not have any contact lens's, no clothing, and I do not even have a toothbrush, she said.

I asked her what she did have and she said that she has a baby penguin doll that she was given and the orange life preserver that she wore to stay alive.

I asked her if she had any photos of the rescue, and she said YES! I told her to guard the chips with her life, because that is what the family wanted to see.

She sounded sick, but reassured me that she was covered by many doctors. She seemed to be completely disoriented.

She did say that she was worried about money and food and I suggested that she ask any American Reporter she sees for assistance. She was clear that there were many people on her team to get her back to the USA.

"Lisa, I want you to know that we have been getting calls from around the world about you, and the BBC wants to interview you in the morning,,,, she laughed and said.."I want to get home and be in my warm bed and I want to talk to Katie Couric and Inside Edition.... and Oprah!"

I was stunned!

So this morning at 7:30 AM we received a call from Vivianna Karamanis from Inside Edition stating that they had just called the hotel and Lisa was already gone.

"Headed for Santiago and back to Salt Lake City, Utah " I said to the reporter...... Silence


Copyright 2007 Robert Paisola
The Western Capital Foundation
robert@mycollector.com
801-619-4700

THEY ARE THERE!!! Posted by Robert Paisola

For Immediate Release
Robert Paisola robert@mycollector.com
www.MyCollector.com
Copyright 2007 Robert Paisola, Salt Lake City, Utah


To all of our friends around the world. We have just received notification that as of 2:45 PM MST that Lisa Paisola and Kay Van Horne have made it to a hotel in Chile.

I just got off of the phone with an international reporter in Canada and they have confirmed that Lisa Paisola and Kay Van Horne are checking into the hotel as we speak. There may be a two hour delay.

The hotel is located in Punta Arenas, Chile.

Iwe would ask that you realize that this is a very big relief for our family and we desire to speak to Lisa and Kay on a family level until we are assured of their needs.

Again, my sister, Lisa Paisola and my aunt, Kay Van Horne have arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile.

We are also told that at this very moment, room keys are being handed out.

Thank you all for your support,

Robert Paisola
Chief Executive Officer
The Western Capital Foundation
801-619-4700
www.mycollector.com
robert@mycollector.com

Rescue ship crewmember describes 'frightful' scene, Posted by Robert Paisola

The MS Explorer, a small Canadian cruise ship carrying tourists from 14 nations, including Canada, struck a chunk of ice before dawn Friday. Twenty hours later, it sank in Antarctic waters.

Here's a first-hand account from a Canadian crewmember with the Norwegian cruise liner, the MS Nordnorge, that answered the Explorer's distress call early Friday.

Taylor Echlin, of Mississauga, Ont., describes the 'frightful' sight that greeted him during the rescue of ship's passengers.

The real story, he told CTV.ca in an email, "is about the Captain and crew of the MS Nordnorge.

Their rescue efforts were perfect."

MS Nordnorge's Taylor Echlin recounts the rescue efforts.

Hi everyone:

This is the email you all want to receive. I'm going to tell you about the rescue at sea of the passengers of the MS Explorer by the crew of the MS Nordnorge.

Friday morning, November 23 ... By 0600 I'm up -- shower and shave, put on brand new clean clothes ... and then tidy up the cabin for our cabin steward.

As I leave our stateroom there is an announcement by Franze over the PA system -- "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry to wake you at this early hour, but there's been a change in our day's plans.

We are rushing to the rescue of a sinking ship. We will be there shortly. Please do not use decks 5 and 7. We need to keep those decks clear so our crew can do their proper work, and effect the rescue. We will provide you with more information later."

I re-entered the cabin, got dressed properly for being outside, and picked up my camera....
Here's what happened on the MS Explorer the previous night -- the ship had about 100 passengers, 8 Expedition leaders, and 50 crew.

The MS Explorer was plowing through an enormous ice floe. ... Some time around midnight -- just as they were about to exit the ice floe -- the ship plowed into the very last growler which punctured a fist-sized hole in the starboard side. The ship started taking on water.

The passengers were sleeping in their cabins on Deck 3. One fellow woke up at the sound of the ice hit -- and heard trickling -- like a tap was running.

Soon there was water on his floor. The passenger went to find a crew member -- who came down, tasted the salt water, and knew immediately that they had a problem. Soon water was flooding the third deck -- and the passengers started clearing the floor of their belongings. ...
The Captain ordered everyone to their muster stations. ...

Sometime around 0100 the Captain gave the "Abandon Ship" order.

... The ship was listing badly at that time. The crew had trouble lowering the lifeboats -- as the electricity had now gone out. ...

The engine compartment crew could not start the diesel engine that ran the lifeboat system -- allowing the boats to be lowered -- so they had to hand crank the diesel fuel pumps and hand crank the engine to start it.

The order of events doesn't quite make sense -- as the engine room would be below deck 3 -- but I'm just repeating what passengers told us.

There were only four lifeboats -- with (a few) black rubber expedition dinghies. ...

Many of the MS Explorer lifeboats took on water over the side.

One lady was totally soaked. When she came on board the MS Nordnorge -- she emptied her boots filled with water into a toilet.

'A frightful scene'

The lifeboats drifted away from the MS Explorer for four hours during the night -- first light was before 0300.

When our ship came upon them -- the lifeboats were scattered around the sea. The MS Explorer passengers told us the most beautiful sight they ever had seen were the floodlights of the National Geographic ship coming toward them from the horizon.

The MS Nordnorge appeared shortly after -- and as both ships approached the stranded passengers -- they all quipped that they wanted to be rescued by the bigger, more luxurious ship -- which was ours.

You simply cannot imagine the frightful scene that greeted us when we went out on deck.

The four lifeboats filled to capacity with wet, tired, scared persons were being towed towards our ship by the black rubber dinghies. The MS Nordnorge rescue crew (was) in the Polar Cirkel boats, as well as our super fast rescue launch -- organizing the rescue from the water.

I took hundreds of pictures. It was a truly awful sight -- but they were going to be rescued. Two techniques were being used.

The MS Nordnorge had lowered two of our life rafts to the water -- where they were secured as best possible to the side of the ship. The MS Explorer lifeboats were brought alongside our life rafts -- the passengers were then transferred from their lifeboat to our life raft -- and our life raft was then lifted up to the deck 5 muster station -- where the rescued passengers were offloaded.

The second technique was to offload passengers from the MS Explorer lifeboats to the MS Nordnorge Polar Cirkel boats -- and then bring them to our ship for offloading.

The MS Nordnorge rescue crew was extremely well trained. They completed the rescue in a very timely fashion -- using the two techniques to make the rescue faster. They were as competent as they could be -- and I'm absolutely certain that they were kind and compassionate too.

The entire rescue was completed by about 0730. What was left floating in the water were four empty lifeboats, and the six black rubber expedition dinghies. That was an eerie, lonely sight. Inside the MS Nordnorge

The National Geographic ship was standing by to offer assistance if needed -- but our Captain completed the rescue with his own crew. We then slowly made our way to the MS Explorer.

What a sad looking little ship it was -- listing to starboard with its deck rails in the water. We stood by -- with our Captain getting the MS Nordnorge to within 100 feet or so of the sinking ship.

Inside the MS Nordnorge -- our crew and medical staff were tending to the rescued passengers -- who were all placed in the comfortable salons on Deck 7.

Fredericke (one of our expedition leaders) made an announcement that these woeful MS Explorer passengers were wet and cold. If any of us would offer to give up some of our clothes -- that gesture would be a good start to the recovery of the rescued passengers. George and I immediately went to our cabins and brought up two armfuls of clothes -- just freshly washed.

We gave away socks, underwear, long underwear, shirts, pants, and sweaters. We were about fifth or sixth in line to give Fredericke our bundles -- and the long line-up behind us took probably half an hour to clear.

The MS Explorer passengers then were welcomed on board the ship by Franz -- our expedition leader. They were invited downstairs to have breakfast -- and many of us greeted them as they walked down the centre ship's staircase.

They were in total shock -- many looking dazed and disoriented.

One man said he was wearing donated socks, pants, shirt, sweater, and some lady's underwear.

They were just so glad to be aboard our ship -- and our warm welcome made them feel so much better.

As they walked through the salons in Deck 4 -- they looked out the viewing windows at their wounded, listing, and sinking ship -- the MS Explorer.

All the emotions you could imagine were vented out by the passengers.

Many were on their second or third expedition on that ship -- and had loved it dearly and felt secure. Others damned it, and were too upset to see it again from the safe vantage point of our ship.

Back outside, the MS Explorer continued to take on water. A Brazilian Navy patrol boat was steaming to the scene -- and we stood by until they arrived. The rescue had taken place in absolutely perfect conditions -- winds of five knots, and calm seas. Two hours later the winds were picking up -- and the MS Explorer was drifting quickly towards and enormous ice floe. It was perhaps only 500 metres away from the ice when the MS Nordnorge departed the scene. ...

Back on board -- our crew did three separate checks of the passenger list from the MS Explorer. There were 15 people unaccounted for -- but they had made their way to various parts of our ship -- and soon Franz announced that all passengers, expedition leaders, and crew were accounted for and safely on our ship. There was a hearty cheer and applause on board from our passengers.

During the day we met with and talked to the rescued voyagers. They were a much younger crowd than on board the MS Nordnorge. Their expedition leaders and their ship's doctor were in their early 30s. ...

The rescue was made in Antarctic Sound -- which is about a two- to three-hour sail southeast from the South Shetland Islands. Our Captain steamed back to the South Shetland Islands as there are both Chilean and Russian scientific stations on King George Island. There is an airstrip there, and facilities that will accommodate the offloading of the MS Explorer voyagers. ...

Difficult weather conditions

When we arrived at Maxwell Bay at 1330 -- the weather had really deteriorated. We have 40 knot winds, and driving snow -- which stings the eyes. The logistics to be worked out must have been enormous. Where to put up the MS Explorer passengers? How to feed them off the boat? How to pick them up and transport them away from the Antarctic? Where to take them? How to get them home? Who will pay for all of this?

At 1415 Fredericke announced to us that humpback whales were breaching on the starboard side. Much picture taking outside in the gathering storm.

By 1630 the gale has reached maximum strength -- it is hard to walk on deck. The snow has formed icy patches - and we tread carefully. The Captain runs the engines in forward at 0.5 - 1.0 knots, also using the bow thrusters to keep our ship in the same position. We are only 50 feet from a large blue white iceberg -- heading straight into the wind.

The decision is made to offload the passengers. Each person will be fully dressed for warmth, and will wear their own survival gear plus our ship's survival suits. Only eight persons at a time will be taken by Polar Cirkel boats to the landing -- where we will then need our survival suits for the next batch.

It takes until 2030 to complete the offloading. We say goodbye to each boatload -- and talk to them throughout the afternoon. The weather station gets too busy -- and there is a lull in the offloading at dinner time. Our rescue crew must be cold and exhausted -- and they need a break too.

By the time the operation is completed -- the front has mostly passed, and winds are only about 20 - 25 knots. The MS Explorer passengers are now safe -- they will get home some time -- and no one died.

Our Captain heads the MS Nordnorge back to sea -- and we steam to our next destination.

What will happen next?

Watching the sunrise from a lifeboat, Posted by Robert Paisola

During Friday's sinking of the MS Explorer in the waters of the Antarctic Ocean, the worst moment for Canadian passenger Cheryl Beck came with the captain's cry, "Abandon ship!"
"He repeated it several times," she told the Star last night from Chile's Punta Arenas, the southernmost city on Earth. "Up until that moment it hadn't really sunk in yet, and that's when it did. It really did."

Cheryl, 40, and her husband, Robert, 41, had known the ship was hitting ice that night and had felt the jolting.

But the Edmonton couple, who work for the Alberta government, were in bed and falling asleep some time early Friday morning when they heard the call for all passengers to report to the ship's lecture room.

Soon, they would find themselves in a lifeboat, soaking wet and shivering as waves washed over them and the lifeboat began to take on water. It was so crowded in their boat that some passengers were standing.

However, one of the stricken ship's Zodiacs quickly pulled alongisde and rescued the overflow of passengers from their lifeboat.

After about four hours bobbing in the grey night of the Antarctic summer, they were rescued, this time permanently, by the Norwegian cruise ship, Nord Norge. Capt. Arnvid Hansen later told Associated Press he had steamed 4 1/2 hours "full ahead" to rescue the ship before the weather could close in.

"We have to work together with the forces of nature, not against them," said the captain.

By last night, the Becks, along with other passengers and crew members, had survived rescue at sea, a night at a Chilean military base on King George Island, roughly 800 kilometres south of Chile's southern tip, and a lift from that island to the mainland in a military Hercules.

"In the end, it was quite an adventure," Cheryl Beck said. "If it's true I have nine lives, then one of my lives is used up."

Partly the thrill of adventure and partly fascination with early 20th-century explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton sent the couple on a cruise that focused on the exploits of the lengendary Antarctic adventurer and that was called the "Spirit of Shackleton."

According to Cheryl Beck, "it was a dream of ours" to join this modern-day expedition to Antarctica, run by Toronto-based G.A.P. Adventures.

Peter d'Angelo, a retired engineer from San Francisco, and his wife, Lynne, a dietitian, also dreamed about tracing Shackleton's path through Antarctica.

"They promised an adventure but I don't think they ever intended to make it this good," he told the Star last night from Punta Arenas. He said the site where the Explorer went down off King George Island wasn't that far from where Shackleton was trapped in the ice during his most famous expedition from 1914-1916.

D'Angelo was in his cabin on the starboard side early Friday when he heard a noise, like a ladder striking the ship. Quickly, his cabin began to fill with water and he hit the emergency button in his room to start the alarm. (Another passenger also alerted the crew.) Then, he and his wife pushed their belongings up onto the bed.

It is believed the ship hit ice. Early reports said it had a hole the size of a fist in its starboard bulkhead below the waterline. But d'Angelo speculates the ship sank because the ice hit an existing stress fracture. And he also believes that water got into the plumbing system, flooding the entire ship and causing it to sink.

The Explorer listed to starboard and a few hours after the accident, slipped beneath the Antarctic waters.

From the lifeboats, d'Angelo said he and his wife watched the sun come up at 3:41 a.m.
"It wasn't a bad sunrise," he said. "Not bad at all." After the Nord Norge took the ship's passengers and crew to King George Island, the Chilean military cared for them overnight Friday.

Most lost all their possessions, including clothing and camera equipment. Of the 154 passengers and crew, the Hercules carried out 77 last night. The rest will be brought out today, depending on weather.

At Punta Arenas last night, airport manager Juan Carlos Oneto greeted each passenger at the terminal with a boisterous, "Bienvenidos a Chile."

They were then taken to two local hotels where they had dinner and were given clothes and supplies.

Cheryl Beck said she and her husband plan to continue their vacation, although final plans haven't been worked out.

Other passengers have made similar decisions. The company is trying to accommodate the passengers, whether in bringing them home or in helping them with other vaction plans.
Today in Punta Arenas, company officials will take the first batch of passengers ferried in last night out shopping to replace lost items.

"The company was great," said d'Angelo. "We were all very calm because we had practised emergency drills and we did exactly what we practised. "He said that four lifeboats and four Zodiacs were deployed by the crew. D'Angelo also credited the lack of panic with the fact that, before leaving the ship, passengers were told that rescue vessels were not far away.

As well, he said a helicopter circled the lifeboats about 1 1/2 hours after they hit the water, reassuring everybody.

"We didn't feel at risk," he said.

154 passengers rescued after cruiseliner crash in Antarctic Ocean, Posted by Robert Paisola 11-25-07 1:51 AM MST

A total of 154 on board a luxury cruiseliner which sank after hitting an iceberg in the Antarctic Ocean were rescued on Friday.

The stricken Explorer is now listing at 45 degrees near the South Shetland Islands, off the Argentinian coast, Sky news reported.

The 100 passengers and 54 crew were evacuated on lifeboats and after enduring temperatures of minor 5 degree Celsius. Among them were 24 British, four Irish, 14 Americans, 12 Canadians and 10 Australians.

They were then ferried to cruiseship the Nord Norge, which was one of five boats sent to the scene, before sending back to Port Ushuaia, Argentina.

Nord Norge captain Arnvid Hansen said, "Everybody is in a good position. People are cold but there is no hypothermia."

Two crew stayed on board for a time to pump out water from the Explorer, which suffered a 25cm by 10cm rupture in its hull after hitting the iceberg. The cruiseliner is expected to sink into the 2,000 feet depths.

The Explorer, which set out from Ushuaia on the southern tip of Argentina on Nov. 11 for a 19-day trip through Drake Passage, is owned and chartered by Canada-based Gap Adventures.
The vessel, one of the best-known specialist cruise ships in the world, has run aground before in Antarctica. It grounded on rocks off Weincke Island in December 1979.

Chilean Navy rescues sunken cruise liner's passengers, crew members

The Chilean Navy participated on Friday in a successful international operation rescuing a cruise liner's 100 passengers and 54 crew members after the boat crashed against an iceberg in the Antarctic Ocean.

The 2,400-ton cruise liner M/S Explorer hit an iceberg early Friday near King George island in the Antarctic Ocean near a Chilean base and the Shetland del Sur islands. Full story
Ship carrying 154 people sinking in Antarctic

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A ship carrying 154 people struck an object in Antarctic waters and is sinking, Britain's Coast Guard said Friday.

All passengers have been evacuated from the ship named Explorer, said Neil Oliver of the Coast Guard station at Falmouth, England. Full story

NBC Interviews Robert Paisola on Sister Lisa's MS Explorer Adventure

ANOTHER DAY OF CONTINUOUS INTERVIEWS ON THE MS EXPLORER DISASTER- THE NBC VIDEO IS NOW LIVE

Mr. ROBERT PAISOLA Interviewing with KSL TELEVISION for CNN and NBC, MSNBC, and NBC INTERNATIONAL WITH ALEX CABRERO, THE VIDEO IS NOW LIVE.

FOR MORE VIDEO FEEDS SEE http://www.robertpaisola.com/

KSL, The local NBC Affiliate was just doing an interview with Mr. Paisola and Jeremy Castellano's report for CNN is now live. Special thanks to NBC for permitting us to go National via a local news feed. Watch the Live Video!