The media coverage for this event has been questionable at best. The 'mainstream media' spin for this story about global warming scientists getting stuck in the
SUMMER Antarctic ice is as interesting as the story itself.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — 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.
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.
"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.
___
Associated
Press writers Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Adam Schreck in Dubai, and
Gillian Wong and researcher Zhao Liang in Beijing contributed to this
report.
