The Spirit of Glacier Bay, formerly Spirit of Nantucket and Nantucket Clipper, is a small cruise ship

Cruise ship

A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...

 that was owned and operated by Cruise West

Cruise West

Cruise West was an independent, destination focused small-ship cruise operator based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The line was the largest operator of U.S. flagged cruise vessels with nine currently operating. They were best known for their Alaska cruises but their reach includes destinations...

 until 2010. It is 207 feet long, carries up to 102 passengers and approximately 28 crew. It was built in 1984 at Jeffersonville, Indiana for Clipper Cruise Lines by Jeffboat Corporation, and operated on the East Coast of North America, from the Caribbean Sea to the Canadian Maritimes and into the Great Lakes as far as Chicago. In 2006 the Nantucket Clipper, along with fleet-mate Yorktown Clipper was purchased by Seattle-based Cruise West. Nantucket Clipper was renamed Spirit of Nantucket at this time. In 2006 and 2007 she continued operating on her usual routes.

Accidents

While named Spirit of Nantucket, the vessel ran aground on November 8, 2007 while cruising the Intercoastal Waterway near Virginia Beach, VA. The vessel struck a submerged, uncharted object and the captain ordered for the ship to be driven into the shallows to avoid settling on the bottom in deeper water. 66 people were on the ship at the time; there were no reported injuries related to the incident. Coast Guard officials said the cruise ship's captain acted properly by running the ship aground to prevent it from sinking in deeper water. At least one survivor said she never felt in danger.

Cruise West repositioned the Nantucket to their Pacific operations in early 2008. The vessel was renamed Spirit of Glacier Bay (2), reviving the name once held by the first overnight vessel in the fleet. On July 7, 2008, the Spirit of Glacier Bay (2) ran aground again, this time in her namesake park at the head of Tarr Inlet. No casualties or injuries were reported and passengers were given options to be re-accommodated on other Cruise West cruises, receive sizable refunds of their cruise fare, and/or given gift certificates towards a future cruise.
After her grounding the Spirit of Glacier Bay limped back to Seattle, where she laid up at Jacobsens Terminal in the Ballard neighborhood. She was used from 2008 - 2010 as floating accommodation, training, meeting, and storage space for Cruise West.

In 2010 Cruise West announced plans to rename the vessel either Spirit of America or Spirit of Adventure, give her the extensive shipyard work necessary to make her structurally sound and operational again, and to run the vessel on a series of itineraries in eastern North America similar to her original routes, including the Mississippi

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, the New England coast, and the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence River. Cruise West ceased operations on 18 September, 2010, before beginning the work necessary to return the vessel to service. Her name was never officially changed, and as of September 2010 the Spirit of Glacier Bay (2) continues to sit idle just northeast of the Ballard Locks in Seattle, along with many other vessels of the former Cruise West Fleet.