Society Expeditions, which operated the World Discoverer last September, has encountered stormy seas. The Seattle-based firm`s ships (it also owns the Society Explorer) are carrying passengers to Antarctica on adventure expeditions such as the one I took. What happens to Society Expeditions after it concludes its Antarctica season in March is not clear.
In a New Year`s Day letter to his patrons, Heiko Klein, the company`s president, acknowledged that ”Society Expeditions experienced financial difficulties in 1991 and is working on a solution to those problems with the cooperation of a number of parties.
”Society Expeditions acted as charterer, and more recently, as agent for voyages on the Society Explorer and World Discoverer, which are presently enjoying a successful Antarctica season this winter. After the Antarctic season, the vessels will no longer be operated by Society Expeditions.”
Klein, who also heads Discoverer Reederei, Society`s German operating company, said Clipper Adventure Cruises of St. Louis now has chartered the World Discoverer. During the spring, summer and fall of 1992, ”Clipper has designed innovative and attractive programs to Costa Rica`s national parks along the Pacific coast, the Darien jungle, Sea of Cortez, Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands, the Inside Passage, Gulf of Alaska and Kodiak Island.”
In the fall, the ship will cruise the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers before sailing south to Argentina and Antarctica for the winter season.
Klein said Clipper ”has also submitted an offer to purchase the Society Explorer. At the time of this writing, the transaction has not yet been finalized.”
Abercrombie & Kent International, of Oak Brook, a tour operator and marketing/sales partner of Society Expeditions, also is said to be interested in the Society Explorer, but spokeswoman Janice Wolf said she could not confirm that.
”It is likely, however, that A&K will be offering a cruise in the Western Pacific in 1992,” Wolf said.
A&K said it could not be more specific about destinations at this time but said it would accept inquiries at 800-323-7308.
A dispute with a Finnish shipyard over a new vessel, the Society Adventurer, precipitated Society Expeditions` financial problems. The impasse forced Society Expeditions to cancel the new ship`s program, which had been heavily booked.
Peter Cox, Society Expedition`s director of planning and operations, said hoped that the company would survive.
Meanwhile, passengers drawn to Society Expeditions` offbeat cruises for the last 17 years will have to look elsewhere. While Clipper runs a similar operation, it has no immediate plans to venture into the vast reaches of the Pacific, a spokeswoman said.
