The MS World Discoverer was a ship which led tourists on expedictions to observe wildlife and the region's ice floes, which occur as a result of seawater freezing and floating to the ocean's surface.
In 1990, she was registered in Liberia under the name World Discoverer. The ship carried a fleet of inflatable dinghies, allowing passengers to move closer to ice floes for observation. A small fleet of dinghies landed passengers on various shorelines for observation of local wildlife in the area. Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice, which has an even lower density). Drift ice, also called brash ice, is sea ice that is not attached to the shoreline or any other fixed object (shoals, grounded icebergs, etc.). Drift ice consists of ice floes, individual pieces of sea ice 20 metres (66 ft) or more across. 
