Antarctic rescue: all 52 ship passengers airlifted to safety
The Akademik Shokalskiy became stuck in the ice on Christmas Eve and two icebreakers, the Aurora Australis and Chinese vessel Xue Long, have been trying in vain to reach it.
On Thursday afternoon a helicopter sent from the Xue Long landed next to the ship and began evacuating passengers, dropping them on sea ice next to the Aurora Australis 14 nautical miles away. Five flights were made, carrying all non-crew and their luggage.
“Aurora Australis advised Amsa that helicopter operations had been completed at about 10.45pm AEDT and all passengers, luggage and equipment had been transferred,” Amsa said in a statement.
The acting director of the Australian Antarctic division of the department of environment, Jason Mundy, said the rescue was carried out without a hitch and it was a relief to have all passengers on board the Aurora Australis.
“The passengers seem very glad to now be with us and they are settling into their new accommodation. There are sufficient berths on the ship for the extra passengers and preparations have been made to ensure we can look after them well for this final part of their journey,” he said.
The “quite difficult” rescue was complicated by changing weather and ice conditions and passengers not trained for the complex situation, but it was not the most remote ever conducted by Amsa, said John Young, general manager of the authority’s rescue division.
“But we wouldn’t want it to be much more remote than this on a regular basis,” he said.
“Antarctica presents particular challenges, and we’re also grateful to the international Antarctic programs that co-operate in many respects, including this one.”
Read More Here
Related articles
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts and leave a comment :)