Chinese vessel now stuck in ice after Antarctic rescue
Print Edition
The Chinese icebreaker involved in the rescue of 52 passengers from a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice found itself stuck in heavy ice yesterday.
A helicopter from the Snow Dragon ferried the passengers from the stranded Russian ship to an Australian icebreaker late on Thursday. But the vessel now has concerns about its own ability to move through heavy ice, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.
It said the ship would attempt to maneuver through the ice when tidal conditions are at their most suitable.
The Australian icebreaker carrying the rescued passengers, the Aurora Australis, will remain on standby in open water in the area “as a precautionary measure,” the rescue agency said.
The Aurora Australis had meant to sail towards an Antarctic base to complete a resupply before carrying the passengers back to Australia.
A helicopter from the Snow Dragon carried the 52 scientists and tourists in small groups from the ice-bound Akademik Shokalskiy to the Australian supply ship late on Thursday. The rescue took around five hours to complete.
Greg Mortimer, one of three expedition leaders on the Akademik Shokalskiy, told the Age newspaper after arriving on the Aurora Australis: “I was immensely relieved for the people under my care.”
He said he was “very sad” to leave behind the Russian vessel and its crew.
“The passengers seem very glad to now be with us and they are settling in to their new accommodation,” Jason Mundy, Australian Antarctic Division acting director, who is on board the Aurora Australis, said yesterday.
Mundy said there were enough rooms for the passengers, and the ship can “look after them well for the final part of their journey.”
Passengers, mostly Australians and New Zealanders, will probably arrive in Australia’s southern island state of Tasmania around mid-January.
The Akademik Shokalskiy’s Russian crew will stay on board until the ice breaks up and the ship is freed.
The Russian-owned research ship left New Zealand on November 28 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of an Antarctic journey led by Australian explorer Douglas Mawson. It became trapped on Christmas Eve, 100 nautical miles east of French Antarctic station Dumont d’Urville and about 1,500 nautical miles south of Tasmania.
During their time on the ice, passengers amused themselves with movies, classes in knot tying, languages, yoga and photography, and rang in the New Year with dinner, drinks and a song composed about their adventure.
The Chinese icebreaker got within sight of the Akademik Shokalskiy last Saturday, but turned back after failing to break through ice more than 3 meters thick in some places.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
