Antarctica cruise delayed after luggage vehicle hijack
A vehicle heist led to the delay of an Antarctica sailing and several disappointed passengers who ended up cancelling their once in a lifetime vacation.
Ahead of the departure of Hurtigruten’s new ship Roald Amundsen, a truck transporting guests’ luggage to the ship was hijacked in Chile.
About 200 pieces of luggage were stolen and still remains missing after the abandoned vehicle was found empty of its contents.
Hurtigruten spokesperson Hanne Taalesen said no passengers were with the truck at the time and the ground handling firm’s employees were unharmed.
Hurtigruten leapt into action to assist passengers to purchase new clothes for the trip.
Of course a trip to the Great White Continent is not like any other island-hopping cruise vacation and needs very specific clothing, footwear and various other items to handle the temperatures.
Most were eventually kitted out but about 15 passengers chose not to travel.
"Many of the passengers were of course very sad about this. It’s incredibly frustrating when you’ve traveled so far and then this happens."
Taalesen said it is the first time the cruise line or the local transportation contractor has experienced such an incident.
The ship has since departed from Punta Arenas in southern Chile.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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