Almost all 154 people on board a cruise ship in the Antarctic Ocean have been rescued after the vessel began sinking after striking an iceberg.
The passengers and crew escaped on to life rafts after the ship, named Explore, was holed off the Argentinian coast, British coast guards said.
"The ship is expected to sink," said Neil Oliver of the coast guard station at Falmouth, England.
"We know she has hit something, and all the passengers are off on lifeboats. The last we heard was that the captain and first officer were remaining on board", he said.
Ship listing
A rescue vessel is heading to the area to assist the Explorer, which was listing at 25 degrees and taking in water.
Passengers pay about $8,000 per cabin to travel on the cruiseliner, which makes two-week cruises around the Antarctic.
The South Shetland Islands lie about 120km north of the Antarctic Peninsula and has been part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962, although they are also claimed by Argentina and Chile
Rescue centres in Virginia in the US and Ushuiia in Argentina are co-ordinating rescue efforts.