Ship tourism to Antarctica is on the rise: More than 35,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctic this summer. In 1992-1993, 6,750 visited Antarctica, according to the Antarctica Treaty. All of this tourism, however, is putting both tourists and the environment in great danger. Among the tourist ships that visit the continent, the Explorer, a Canadian ship, was one of the first. Put to use in 1969, it was built to carry tourists to Antarctica. Last week, however, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink beneath the waters. Fortunately, all of the passengers and crew members were rescued from the ship. However, the sunken ship endangered the Antarctic's fragile  environment. The ship was estimated to be holding 48,000 gallons of fuel. The accident was not unexpected. Both the US and UK had warned a conference of the Antarctic Treaty member countries in May that the tourism situation in this area was a potential disaster. The US said in a paper, people "should take a hard look at tourism issues now, especially those related to ship safety." Although the Antarctic seas are relatively  calm, floating ice causes a potential threat to ships. The owner of the Explorer blamed the sinking on a fist-like hole in the ship created by ice. Many of the other large ships now visiting Antarctica are not designed especially against thick ice. Such ships generally can only come to the continent in summer. But the tourist rush is pushing ships into dangerous situations. "The increasing number of ships operating in Antarctic means that the ship are under great pressure to get there in time for the key visiting sites," the British government wrote in a paper at the meeting of member countries. As a natural frontier, Antarctica is in a messy legal situation. There are no obvious answers as to who is responsible for dealing with the threat that tourist may cause to human life and the environment. There is no coast guard for Antarctica. Do we want it to become Disneyland, or do we need some controls? What attitude does the writer hold towards Antarctic tourism?
Supportive. Positive. Indifferent. Anxious.