Friends rally over troubled Greg Mortimer icebreaker

As the controversial Australian icebreaker, the MS Greg Mortimer, makes its way towards the Canary Islands, leading travel industry figures have rallied around the popular 67-year-old mountaineer after whom the ship is named.

The state-of-the-art, 80-cabin ship was only built in 2018. However, it has become one of the most written about ships in the world over the past few months after it was stranded in Uruguayan waters for weeks, with more than half the passengers and crew on board eventually testing positive to COVID-19.

On April 18, one of the ship's Filipino crew died of the coronavirus, only days after its passengers – including about 100 Australians – were finally evacuated home.

"Greg is a terrific guy and this is really tough on him," Lonely Planet co-founder Tony Wheeler said Wednesday. "He’s totally sold out of Aurora Expeditions, so it wasn’t his responsibility in any way, but his name is definitely attached to the whole thing.

"I shared a tent with him one chilly night on South Georgia Island on an Aurora trip, with some of us following Shackleton’s walk across the island.

"He's a true adventurer and would be devastated by what has happened with the ship that bears his name."

On Tuesday, The Sydney Morning Herald published lines from emails sent to the ship's on-board doctor by Dr Glenn Haifer, a part-owner of the cruise company Aurora Expeditions, which owns 51 per cent of the Greg Mortimer.

Mr Mortimer founded Aurora Expeditions in 1992. He has since sold out, but remains a consultant to the business.

"You have done an amazing job," Dr Haifer wrote to Dr Mauricio Usme, who was on board. "I wish to make it clear that if you do not provide me with the information I require and follow my direction you will never work for us again."

On March 26 – when the MS Greg Mortimer was desperately trying to gain permission to anchor in South America and disembark passengers – Dr Haifer emailed Dr Usme to "please bear in mind that how you write the health declaration will influence the way that this is viewed. We don't know we have COVID-19. We are taking precautions as if we do. Give limited information truthfully".

Aurora Expeditions is now facing a potential class action from the Australian passengers. Crew are also reportedly considering legal action against Miami-based crewing agency CMI/SunStone Ships.

Mr Mortimer arguably became best known as one of the first two Australians (with Tim Macartney-Snape) to successfully climb Mount Everest in 1984. Mr Mortimer was contacted on Wednesday but did not wish to make any comment "at this time".

Meanwhile, Aurora issued a statement on Tuesday saying "highly selective leaking of portions of communications may serve the frustrations and agendas of individual parties but do not reflect the facts. They are not an accurate reflection of events or issues and, should this matter find its way into the courts, that will become clear to all”.