Russian Scientific Mission Ship Stranded in Antartica,Rescue Begins Thursday Jan 02,2013

Rescue begins for icebound ship in Antarctica

 

A long-awaited rescue of passengers on board a research ship that has been trapped in Antarctic ice for more than a week finally got under way on Thursday Jan 02,2014 with a helicopter scooping up the first group of passengers and flying them to a nearby vessel

The helicopter was originally going to airlift the passengers to a Chinese icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, with a barge then ferrying them to a nearby Australian vessel. But sea ice was preventing a barge from reaching the Snow Dragon, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s Rescue Coordination Centre, which is overseeing the rescue, said the operation would consequently be delayed.

A last-minute change in plans allowed the rescue to go ahead. The 52 scientists and tourists on board were instead being flown to an ice floe next to the Australian icebreaker the Aurora Australis, and then taken by a small boat to the Australian ship, expedition leader Chris Turney said.

All 52 passengers rescued
All 52 passengers aboard a research ship icebound in the Antarctic have been rescued by a Chinese helicopter and taken to an Australian polar icebreaker, maritime authorities said Thursday Jan 02,2014

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the helicopter from the Snow Dragon, a Chinese research vessel, set down passengers directly on an ice floe adjacent to the Aurora Australis rather than following the initial plan of landing on the Chinese ship and then ferrying the passengers by barge to the Aurora. “Aurora Australis has advised AMSA that the 52 passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy are now on board,” the agency said in a tweet.

The Aurora is less than 4 kilometres from the Snow Dragon and the Shokalskiy about 22 kilometres away. 

The passengers aboard the Shokalskiy were lifted off in groups of 12.

 The 22 Russian crew members will stay with the trapped vessel in the hope that a change in wind direction will allow it to get back under way under its own steam. 

 Failing that, a larger icebreaker could be brought in to free it.

Of the 52 passengers, 26 were tourists paying for a place on an expedition tracing the journey Australian explorer Douglas Mawson made 100 years ago


Note
The Finnish-built Shokalskiy has 74 people on board, including 26 tourists, 22 Russian crew, four UK journalists and 22 scientists from Australia and New Zealand hoping to recreate Sir Douglas Mawson's epic Antarctic expedition to Commonwealth Day. 

MV Akademik Shokalskiy crew outside the stranded boat on Saturday Dec 28,2013

Gusty snow showers which hampered visibility on Monday forced back an Australian icebreaker struggling to reach a scientific expedition ship stranded off Antarctica, and also prevented a helicopter rescue

The Aurora Australis made it to within 10 nautical miles of the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which is stuck in an ice field, before retreating in the face of freezing winds and snow showers

"The area where the MV Akademik Shokalskiy is beset by ice is currently experiencing winds of up to 30 knots and snow showers," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said

The Russian Ship has been trapped since Tuesday Dec 24,2013 in thick ice 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart,Australia

A Chinese rescue icebreaker has had to turn back after getting caught in the same ice trap that trapped the Russian Ship