SKIP NOVAK, WHO HAS OVER THREE DECADES OF EXPERIENCE OF SAILING IN THE ANTARCTIC, ON THE NEED FOR VISITING YACHTS TO CARRY PERMITS
The time has come for everyone involved in adventure tourism to realise that Antarctica is no longer the wilderness it was once perceived to be, but rather more like a managed wildlife park. And this goes for visiting yachts.
This is not a new problem, but one that is getting worse – in that many yachts, due to the increased number of them, are going to the Antarctic Peninsula without a permit from their national authority.
This means that if your yacht is British, you need to be permitted by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO); in the case of an American registry, by the US Department of State and associated United States agencies, if French, by Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF) and so on.
In the case that your yacht is a registry other than an Antarctic Treaty member nation, then the owner’s or skipper’s nationality points to where your permit should be obtained from.
The purpose of a permit is two-fold. First of all, every yacht and crew sailing into the environmentally sensitive Antarctic region needs to be aware of certain regulations, guidelines, bio-security protocols and general information, in order to conduct a responsible cruise.
Secondly, safety is a concern. There are no formal search and rescue organisations on tap, so via the permitting process the yacht and crew are made aware of this fact and how
