The number of cruise ship visits to South Georgia is set to increase by at least 10% in the forthcoming 2014/15 season, according to the July edition of the South Georgia Newsletter.
In the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands’ annual address to the tourism industry at the IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) meeting in Providence, Richard McKee, GSGSSI Executive Officer summarized the 2013-14 season as incredibly busy and diverse given the 55 cruise ship calls.
November was a busy month for cruise vessels: eleven cruise ships visited South Georgia between the 9th and 29th, according to the South Georgia Newsletter. One cruise ship, Ortelius, reached the rarely visited South Sandwich Islands and was able to put scientist Tom Hart ashore on Saunders Island where he took soil samples and set up two camera-traps to monitor the penguin colonies.