http://www.CanadaPot.com A dozen Canadians were among the 154 passengers and crew who were safely rescued at sea after they were forced to abandon their cruise ship when it struck ice in the Antarctic Ocean and started to sink early Friday morning. The 12 Canadians - 10 tourists and two expedition guides on the adventure cruise - spent four hours in lifeboats once they were evacuated from the Explorer, a ship owned by a Canadian tour company. They waited in the cold for nearby ships to arrive and were then all loaded onto a large Norwegian cruise ship called the Nordnorge. "Our passengers are safe and accounted for and that's our first priority," Kira Zack, spokeswoman for Toronto-based G.A.P Adventures, told CanWest News Service. G.A.P. Adventures has owned the Explorer since 2004 and operates several tours in the Antarctic and in other parts of the world. It specializes in small group adventure travel. The collision with the ice punctured a hole about the size of a fist in the rear starboard side of the ship. The vessel, which left Ushuaia, Argentina, on Nov.11, was near the South Shetland Islands when the accident happened. The South Shetland Islands lie about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship began to take on water and a distress call was made. The Explorer's pumps managed the incoming water while the 91 passengers and nine expedition staff were gathered in the boat's lecture hall and told of the emergency. They had received evacuation training on the first day and put it into practice, the company said. There were no injuries and no reports of hypothermia. "The evacuation was very calm from all the reports that we've heard and the crew handled it very well and calmly," said Zack. "No one was hysterical; they were just sitting there nice and quiet, because we knew there were ships coming," Peter Svensson, the Explorer's first officer, told Reuters Television by satellite phone from the Nordnorge. "We were passing through ice as usual ... we do that every day ... But this time something hit the hold and we got a little leakage downstairs," said Svensson. The boat was listing at a 40-degree angle and was expected to sink, according to Argentine coast guard officials. Passengers and crew were being taken to a Chilean military base on King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands, from where they later will be flown to Chile and Argentina. They were welcomed aboard the Nordnorge, given extra clothing and food and the opportunity to contact their families. In addition to the 12 Canadians were travellers from the United States, Britain, Australia, France and several other countries on board the ship. According to forecasters, the air temperature was around -5 C and the sea temperature was around -1 C when the ship was being abandoned, said Zack. The 75-metre Explorer, a well-known ship in marine circles, was built in 1969 and is specifically designed with a reinforced double hull to withstand ice and other environmental challenges. The company isn't sure why the Explorer suffered the damage it did, considering it was built to navigate icy waters. "We're going to be doing a full investigation," Zack said. "I_don't want to speculate; we're waiting on the investigation." She added the Explorer passed a full safety inspection in October. "Nothing like this has ever happened before," she said. People who have trips booked with G.A.P. Adventures to Antarctica are being contacted by the company. Zack said travellers should have no qualms about going to Antarctica. "Antarctica is a beautiful part of the world - one of the last-travelled frontiers of the world,"_she said. "It's very popular for the adventurers." G.A.P. Adventures says the Explorer has a "legendary" history. It was the first passenger ship to travel to Antarctica and the first to venture south of the Antarctic Circle. It was also the first passenger ship to travel through the icy waters of the Northwest Passage. The tour company operates several trips to the Antarctic and the Explorer was in the midst of a 20-day tour called the Spirit of Shackleton. Eighteen nights are spent at sea and the tour includes stops at the Falkland Islands, the island of South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula. It costs more than $13,500 Cdn. The Antarctic Tour focuses on wildlife, culture, history and scenery and several naturalists, historians and geologists are on board the ship to educate the travellers. Tourism has been booming in the Antarctic in the past few years. More than 20,000 people make the trek each year, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, an organization dedicated to promoting environmentally responsible travel to the Antarctic. Americans make up the majority of visitors but, in the past year, more than 2,000 Canadians went to the region.