UPDATE: Cruise ship spends Christmas stuck in ice off Antarctica – rescued by helicopter
UPDATED: Antarctic rescue of Akademik Shokalskiy ship completed
From BBC
Rescuers in Antarctica have safely transferred all 52 passengers stranded on the ice-bound research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy.
The Australian rescue operators said the scientists and tourists were now all aboard the ship Aurora Australis.
They were flown there in groups by a helicopter from a Chinese ice-breaker.
The Shokalskiy has been trapped since 24 December. Its 22 crew are expected to remain on board to wait until the vessel becomes free.
The Shokalskiy was trapped by thick sheets of ice driven by strong winds, about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart – the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania.
The vessel was being used by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago.
‘White-knuckle ride’
“We’ve made it to the Aurora australis safe & sound. A huge thanks to the Chinese & @AusAntarctic for all their hard work!,” expedition leader Chris Turney tweeted.
The helicopter belongs to the Chinese icebreaker, Xue Long, and each flight took about 45 minutes, round-trip.
The BBC’s Andrew Luck-Baker, who was on board the Akademik Shokalskiy, says the 15-minute one-way flight was a “white-knuckle ride”.
The passengers were taken to an ice floe next to the Aurora Australis and then ferried on to the ice-breaker by a small boat.
Our correspondent says the Russian crew staying behind could be on the Akademik Shokalskiy for weeks before the pack ice clears.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s (Amsa) Rescue Co-ordination Centre, which was overseeing the operation, had earlier said it was unlikely the rescue would go ahead on Thursday as hoped because of the sea-ice conditions.
But it later reported: “Aurora Australis has advised Amsa that the 52 passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy are now on board.”
The passengers are not expected back in Tasmania until mid-January.
Several attempts to break through to the ship by sea – by the Xue Long, Aurora Australis and French-flagged L’Astrolabe – failed because of the thickness of the ice.
Andrew Luck-Baker says the Aurora Australis, although big, was simply not up to the task and there is speculation two larger vessels may be coming to the area in the weeks to come.
Despite being trapped, the scientists continued their experiments, measuring temperature and salinity through cracks in the surrounding ice.
One of the aims was to track how quickly the Antarctic’s sea ice was disappearing.
The ship had plenty of stocks and was never in danger.
For more on this story go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25573096
Original story:
By Russell Goldman | ABC News Share105410
PHOTO: Cruise Ship Spends Christmas Stuck in Ice Off Antarctica (ABC News)
Fifty-seven people spent Christmas aboard a cruise ship that has become stuck in the ice in a remote region off the coast of Antarctica and rescue vessels are at least two days away, Australian maritime officials told ABC News.
The Russian-operated Akademik Shokalskiy, an ice-strengthened vessel built in 1984 for oceanographic research, became stuck in the ice about 1,500 nautical miles from Hobart, Tasmania, and issued a satellite distress call early this morning, Andrea Hayward-Maher of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.
“We’ve been in touch with the master of the vessel, who says they are beset by ice,” spokeswoman Hayward-Maher said. “They are basically trapped or stuck in the ice and can’t move.”
Passengers are believed to have enough provisions to wait out their rescue. One passenger tweeted that all on board were fine and their “spirits high.”
“We’re in the ice like the explorers of old! All are well and spirits are high. Happy Christmas,” Australian professor Chris Turney tweeted.
The ship is too far from land to send aircraft or normal rescue vessels, Hayward-Maher said. Three ships with ice-breaking capabilities in the region have “been tasked with helping,” but they are all a two-day sail from the stuck vessel,” she added.
“This is quite a complex and lengthy search-and-rescue operation because of the remote location of the area,” Hayward-Maher said.
Of the 57 souls on board, 22 are crewmen and 35 are passengers. The ship cruised to the site of a 1911-1914 expedition of British explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, according to Expeditions Online, a travel agency that sells tickets for the cruise.
We’re in the ice like the explorers of old! All are well and spirits are high. Happy Christmas from the AA… https://t.co/dIiKBnP6rz
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