Antarctic ship rescue set to start: authorities
by Staff Writers
Sydney, Australia (AFP) Jan 02, 2014
Although
the ship is well provisioned and not in any immediate danger, the
Russian crew have had to spend Christmas and New Year marooned amid snow
storms and blizzards and are preparing to wait until the ice breaks up.
(AFP/Footloose)
|
Rescuers are expected Thursday to launch a complex operation using a
Chinese helicopter to airlift passengers from a Russian ship ice-bound
in Antarctic seas as weather improves, Australia's maritime authority
said.
The Akademik Shokalskiy, carrying 52 passengers and 22 crew, has been
trapped in pack ice 100 nautical miles east of the French base Dumont
d'Urville since December 24.
An Australian government supply ship, the Aurora Australis, admitted
Tuesday it was unable to break through, forcing a more complex
helicopter rescue.
Attempts to launch the airborne rescue were called off Wednesday because of adverse conditions.
But in a message posted Thursday on its official Twitter account, the
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said a rescue effort could
soon start.
"Akademik Shokalskiy has advised RCC (Rescue Coordination Centre)
Australia that weather conditions have improved and rescue operations
are likely to commence shortly," AMSA said.
"Wind in the area is now down to 10 knots and visibility has improved," the statement said.
"Weather conditions are expected to remain favourable over the next 36 hours."
The announcement will be a source of much-needed cheer for the mixed
group of scientists, journalists and tourists, mostly Australians and
New Zealanders, on board the stranded vessel.
However, AMSA warned: "This rescue will be a complex operation involving
a number of steps and subject to factors such as weather."
Australian authorities, who are coordinating the rescue, plan to use a
helicopter on board the Chinese-flagged icebreaker Xue Long to bring the
passengers off the boat, leaving behind the crew members.
Read More Here
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A dose of COLD reality: The ironic saga of the eco-campaigners
trying to highlight global warming and melting ice caps trapped in the
freezing Antarctic
Australian scientists set out on Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy
The £900,000 expedition began full of high hopes early last month
But ship was hit on Christmas Eve by a 50-knot blizzard and became in ice
By
James Delingpole
PUBLISHED:
19:59 EST, 31 December 2013
|
UPDATED:
09:41 EST, 1 January 2014
No matter whether you are a true
believer in ‘climate change’ or an ardent sceptic, you’ll surely
appreciate the delicious irony of the story which has been playing out
in Antarctica.
A scientific
research team who headed south to prove the threat to mankind from
global warming by establishing that the region is melting have found
themselves trapped on their ship in the unexpectedly thick pack ice.
The £900,000 expedition began full of high hopes early last month.
MV Akademik Shokalskiy trapped in the ice at sea
off Antarctica. A scientific research team who headed south to prove
the threat to mankind from global warming by establishing that the
region is melting have found themselves trapped on their ship
A team of Australian
climate scientists set out on a Russian research ship MV Akademik
Shokalskiy on a mission to raise awareness of global warming.
‘The research stakes are high,’ claimed a sympathetic report on Australia’s ABC TV station.
‘Antarctica
is one of the great engines driving the world’s oceans, winds and
weather. But there are ominous signs of climate change . . .’
Up
until Christmas, all seemed to be going well. Besides the Russian crew
and the Australian climate scientists, the ship’s 85-strong company
included an Australian Green MP, two environment journalists from the
Guardian newspaper and a BBC science journalist eager to relay details
of the expedition’s vital findings which support their gospel of
man-made global warming.
Each day, Guardian
readers were entertained by bulletins of the expedition’s latest
adventures: the seasickness; the icy cold; the penguins; ‘the mysterious
song of the leopard seal’.
But
then on Day 16, disaster struck. ‘Stuck in Antarctica’s icy grasp’
noted the report, describing how the ship had been hit on Christmas Eve
by a 50-knot blizzard and then become stuck in pack ice.
At
first, the intrepid explorers put a brave face on the irony of their
predicament. The ice would soon blow away and besides, here was some
unexpected free time to extend their researches.
As
the days went by, though, it slowly became clear that this wasn’t going
to be a temporary problem. The ship was stuck fast — at the height of
what is supposed to be the Antarctic summer and when the ice normally
melts rather than thickens — and was in urgent need of rescue.
The Russian-registered MV Akademik Shokalskiy
became stuck in ice on 24 December with 48 passengers, mostly
Australians, and around 20 crew on board
Perhaps, with
hindsight, it was a mistake to christen the expedition the Spirit of
Mawson in memory of Sir Douglas Mawson, the great Edwardian-age
Australian explorer in whose icy footsteps the mission hoped to follow.
But
though Mawson did much fine work mapping the then-unknown region, his
1911-1913 expedition came badly unstuck. On a trek into the interior,
Mawson and his crew lost most of their food supplies when their sledge
disappeared into a crevasse.
Stuck
350 miles from the coast with only one and a half weeks’ worth of food,
Mawson nearly came to an end as sticky as Captain Scott’s earlier that
same year.
Mawson and his
sole surviving companion, Mertz, were driven to eating their dogs,
unaware that the livers were poisonous. Their hair fell out; the soles
of Mawson’s feet fell off; Mertz ultimately went mad, bit off the top of
his finger and died.
By the time Mawson staggered back to base in February 1913, he was so hideously ravaged that no one recognised him.
Still,
in at least one respect, Mawson had an advantage over his 21st century
followers. As we can see from period photographs, this part of the
Antarctic was noticeably less frozen in the early 20th century than it
is today. There was no visible sea ice in Commonwealth Bay where the MV
Akademik Shokalskiy and its crew first got stuck.
And where, unfortunately, it remains stuck — despite the best efforts of three icebreakers.
Read More and Watch Video Here
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