''Piloto Pardo'' was a

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the Wars ...

auxiliary ship from 1959 until 1997. After decommissioning she was converted to an Antarctic expedition cruise ship and operated as such until 2012 under the name MV ''Antarctic Dream''.

Ship history

The vessel was built for the

by the ''Haarlemsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij'' ("Haarlem Shipbuilding Company") of

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, Netherlands, launched on 11 June 1958, and commissioned on 7 April 1959. She was constructed specifically for servicing the scientific bases established in the

Chilean Antarctic Territory The Chilean Antarctic Territory or Chilean Antarctica (Spanish: ''Territorio Chileno Antártico'', ''Antártica Chilena'') is the territory in Antarctica claimed by Chile. The Chilean Antarctic Territory ranges from 53° West to 90° West and f ...

. The ship measures 83 meters overall length and 11.9 meters wide, with a gross tonnage of over 2,000 metric tons and a draught of 4.60 meters, with an ice-strengthened hull for polar navigation. The ship was christened ''Piloto Pardo'', after

Luis Pardo Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and ...

, the captain of the cutter ''

Yelcho The ''Yelcho'' was built in 1906 by the Scottish firm Geo. Brown and Co. of Greenock, on the River Clyde for towage and cargo service of the Chilean ''Sociedad Ganadera e Industrial Yelcho y Palena'', Puerto Montt. In 1908 she was sold to the Ch ...

'', which rescued the stranded men of Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

Endurance Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing ...

from

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

, Antarctica, in August 1916. She was decommissioned in January 1997. In 1998 she was sold to Orlando Paoa of

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...

, and renamed ''Hoto Matua''. In 2003 she was sold to Antarctic Shipping SA and converted into an Antarctic cruise ship in the ''Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada Chilena'' (

ASMAR Asmar ( ps, اسمار) is one of the major cities in northeastern of Kunar province of Afghanistan and is the district center of Bar Kunar district, which is located in the most southern part of the district in a river valley. History The name ...

) shipyard, and renamed ''Antarctic Dream''. The refurbishing allowed a capacity of 80 passengers; 40 double cabins, all with exterior views. On 4 December 2008, the ship grounded at position 64°35.5'S 62°25'W, at the entrance of

Wilhelmina Bay Wilhelmina Bay is a bay wide between the Reclus Peninsula and Cape Anna along the west coast of Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. It was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-99 led by Adrien de Gerlache. The bay is named ...

, near Cape Anna. The ''Antarctic Dream'' was the first vessel on the scene to assist passengers. Other vessels to assist were the ''National Geographic Explorer'', ''Professor Multanovskiy'' and ''Polar Star''. Antarctic Shipping SA suspended operations in July 2012. The boat complies with

MARPOL The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, or "MARPOL 73/78" is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. MARPOL 73/78, MARPOL is an amalg ...

and is ISM and

ISPS An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

certified. Antarctic Shipping SA was a member of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO). The ship was operated by Oceanwide Expeditions in Arctic waters, and by tour operators Adventure Smith Explorations, Adventure Life, Southern Explorations, Explore! in Antarctica. Since 2019 the ship was used as a sleeping and working place for UN personal during the UNMHA mission in Yemen, stationed in the harbor of Hodeida. In May 2020 the Antarctic Dream left Hodeida in regard of the security situation, heading towards Amman (Jordania).

References

External links

Itineraries and deckplans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piloto Pardo 1958 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Auxiliary ships of the Chilean Navy Expedition cruising