Greenpeace believes tourism in Antarctica should be strictly limited after the MS Explorer hit ice and was abandoned.

Greenpeace spokeswoman Bunny McDiarmid is worried that with a growing number of people going to the continent it is inevitable things like this will happen. McDiarmid says the sinking could be a major disaster for the region.

She says it is one of the last pristine environments and needs to be protected.

McDiarmid says the risks are just far too great to continue to allow people to travel there. She says at the Antarctic flat and calm conditions can change substantially and very quickly to 80 knot winds.