QUESTION:
Hi! We are two fifth grade students doing a project on the Polar 
Duke.We were wondering if you could send us the several risks aboard the 
Polar Duke because we could only find three. 

            From Drew  W. & Matthew V.

                            
      
ANSWER from Mary Lenox, ASA, Administrative Coordinator
            Palmer Station, Antarctica
            Fri, 21 Mar 1997 14:01:12 -0500 
         
Hi, Drew and Matthew.
                            
Here are a few of the hazards on the Polar Duke that I can think of...

**any sort of mechanical failure
**running into a hazard (rocks, iceberg, a pier)
**getting into extremely nasty weather
**lines snapping (a line snapped and knocked someone off the deck of 
a ship into the water at McMurdo this year)
**deck accident
**person overboard
**picking up or releasing the pilot (the pilot is either picked up or 
dropped off in the Straits of Megellan and has to jump form ship to 
ship)
**I know of three people who have injured their knees while moving 
about the ship in the last year.  (Likely there ahve been more.)
**seasickness and dehydration this can get severe if a person isn't 
careful

Thanks for you question.

Cheers,
Mary Lenox