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Australian icebreaker runs aground in Antarctica, leaving 68 stranded
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AUSTRALIA'S flagship icebreaker Aurora Australis has broken its mooring in a blizzard and run aground in Antarctica, leaving 68 expeditioners and crew stranded Thursday as freezing winds batter the area.
The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) said the incident happened on Wednesday when the ship was on a resupply mission to the Mawson Station, with gales of more than 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour) whipping the base.
"A total of 68 expeditioners and crew are on board, and all remain safe and well," it said, adding that the icebreaker ran aground at West Arm in Horseshoe Harbour.
"The ship remains watertight. Crew are closely monitoring the hull from inside the ship, however current blizzard conditions are hampering a full assessment of the ship."
Australian Antarctic Division director Nick Gales said those on board would only be transferred to the Mawson base when conditions improved.
"They will remain on the ship until conditions ease and it's safe to move them over to Mawson Station," he said.
"We're thinking that conditions are going to ease overnight."
The division said it had mitigation plans in the event of any fuel spill, without going into details, while options were being considered to rescue the icebreaker.
"The capacity of the ship to continue all of the current voyage remains unknown. However the AAD has a range of aviation and shipping contingency plans in development to achieve the voyage objectives by other means," it added.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a Chinese Antarctic ship, Xiao Long, recently left Casey Station and was within a few days of Mawson.
Australia has four stations in the Antarctic wilderness and Aurora Australis routinely travels from the Australian city of Hobart on scientific and resupply voyages.
The ship, which is owned by P&O Maritime Services, left Hobart on January 11 on its latest mission, undertaking marine science work around the Kerguelen Plateau region before arriving at Mawson last Saturday.
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