Ship assisting Antarctic passengers’ rescue now feared to become stuck in ice
An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers rescued from an icebound ship in the Antarctic was told to halt its journey home on Friday after concerns that a Chinese vessel involved in the dramatic rescue may also become stuck in the heavy sea ice.
Friday, January 3, 2014, 2:41 PM
JESSICA FITZPATRICK/AFP/Getty Images
Passengers who spent Christmas and New Year trapped on the icebound
Russian research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy in Antarctica are seen
Thursdsay while being led to a helicopter.
CANBERRA, Australia — An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers
who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic was told to
halt its journey home on Friday after concerns that a Chinese vessel
involved in the dramatic rescue may also become stuck in the heavy sea
ice.
The icebreaker Aurora Australis had been slowly cracking through thick
ice toward open water after a Chinese helicopter on Thursday plucked the
passengers from their stranded Russian research ship and carried them
to the Aurora.
But on Friday afternoon, the crew of a Chinese icebreaker that had
provided the helicopter said they were worried about their own ship's
ability to move through the ice. The Aurora — which was carrying the
passengers to the Australian island state of Tasmania — was told to stay
in the area in case the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon needs help,
according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue
Coordination Centre, which oversaw the rescue.
The Snow Dragon, which is at the edge of the ice pack surrounding the
Russian vessel, will attempt to push through the ice to open water early
Saturday, when tidal conditions are most favorable. The Aurora is
waiting around 11 kilometers (7 miles) north of the Snow Dragon, said
Lisa Martin, spokeswoman for the marine authority.
Authorities have not said what the next step would be if the Snow
Dragon became stuck, but it is possible that the Aurora will utilize its
icebreaking capabilities to assist the Chinese vessel.
The maritime authority said the decision to place the Aurora on standby
was a precaution and noted there was no danger to anyone on board the
Snow Dragon. But it was yet another wrinkle in the highly complex rescue
operation of those on board the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy,
which got stuck in the ice on Christmas Eve.
JESSICA FITZPATRICK/AFP/Getty Images
A rescue helicopter from the Chinese ship Xue Long is seen carrying some of the passengers. An icebreaker they later boarded was told to halt its journey on Friday.
A spot of clear weather on Thursday finally allowed the multinational
rescue operation after blinding snow, strong winds and thick sea ice
forced rescuers to turn back time and again.
The twin-rotor helicopter, which is based on the Snow Dragon, took
seven hours to carry the scientists and tourists in groups of 12 from
the Russian ship to the Aurora. Earlier, the passengers had linked arms
and stomped out a landing site in the snow next to the Russian ship for
the helicopter.
Helicopter pilot Jia Shuliang told China's official Xinhua News Agency
that he had no way of knowing whether the ice could withstand the
helicopter's weight.
The rescue came in the never-ending daylight of summer after days of failed attempts to reach the vessel.
"I think everyone is relieved and excited to be going on to the
Australian icebreaker and then home," expedition leader Chris Turney
told The Associated Press by satellite phone from the Antarctic.
Sydney resident Joanne Sim, a paying passenger, wept as she boarded the
Australian icebreaker. She said the passengers had spent their time
watching movies and playing games.
JESSICA FITZPATRICK/AFP/Getty Images
The Chinese Antarctic vessel Xue Long is seen from the bridge of the Aurora Australis ship off Antarctica. Another Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon is now feared to become trapped in the ice.
"It really has been an emotional rollercoaster," she told a reporter
from The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper who is aboard the ship.
The 22 crew members of the Akademik Shokalskiy stayed with the icebound
vessel, which is not in any danger and has enough supplies on board to
last for weeks. They will wait until the ice surrounding the ship breaks
up, which could take several weeks, ASMA Emergency Response Division
manager John Young said.
"Only now am I sort of feeling a bit emotional about leaving the
Shokalskiy," Alok Jha, a journalist from The Guardian who is traveling
with the Akademik Shokalskiy, said in a video shot before he boarded the
helicopter. "The poor old thing is stuck still."
The cost of the rescue would be carried by the owners of the ships and
their insurers, in accordance with international conventions on sea
rescues, Young said.
Any official inquiry into how the ship got stuck would have to be conducted by Russia, he said.
The Akademik Shokalskiy, which left New Zealand on Nov. 28, got stuck
after a blizzard pushed the sea ice around the ship, freezing it in
place about 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) south of Hobart, Tasmania.
The scientific team on board the Russian vessel had been recreating
Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's 1911 to 1913 voyage to Antarctica.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ship-assisting-antarctic-rescue-feared-stuck-ice-article-1.1565604#ixzz2pOK5DWrQ
The Telegraph
Antarctic rescue ship now stuck in ice
The Chinese icebreaker which helped transport passengers away from a stranded Antarctic ship has itself become stuck in ice
Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon is now trapped in ice in Antarctica Photo: Zhang Jiansong/REX
11:00AM GMT 03 Jan 2014
A ship which was used to rescue by helicopter 52 people from a trapped Antarctic
ship has now found itself in need of rescue – after it got stuck in
heavy ice.
Having not moved for several days while preparing to airlift the passengers, the Chinese-owned Snow Dragon is now wedged in ice.
The ship was used as a launch pad to pick up the passengers on Thursday, after they had spent nine days stranded. Their ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, became wedged in ice on Christmas Eve as it was heading towards Antarctica.
The MV Akademik Shokalskiy is pictured stranded in ice in Antarctica
After a lengthy operation to ferry passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy to
the awaiting Australian ship, the Aurora Austrialis, by helicopter, the Snow
Dragon was due to leave the area.
But less than 24 hours later, it too was stuck in ice.
"It will attempt to manoeuvre through the ice when tidal conditions are
most suitable, during the early hours of 4 January 2014," said a
statement from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, AMSA.
Greg Mortimer, one of three expedition leaders on the Akademik Shokalskiy,
said it had been a "roller-coaster" rescue.
Speaking from the Australian ship, where all the passengers were recovering,
he said: "I was immensely relieved for the people under my care."
He added that he was "very sad" to leave behind the Russian vessel
and its crew.
Jason Mundy, Australian Antarctic Division acting director, who is on board
the Aurora Australis, said: "The passengers seem very glad to now be
with us and they are settling in to their new accommodation."
Mr Mundy said there were enough rooms for the passengers, and the ship can "look
after them well for the final part of their journey".
The 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 December 24, 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 films, classes
in knot tying, languages, yoga and photography, and rang in the New Year
with dinner, drinks and a song composed about their adventure.
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