Antarctica: Cracking ice raises hopes aboard ice-bound ship

Ice began cracking, a positive sign as an Australian ice-breaking vessel approached the Akademik Shokalskiy, a Russian ship that has been stranded in Antarctica since Dec. 24. 

|
Andrew Peacock/Reuters
Barbara Tucker, a passenger aboard the trapped ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy looks at an Adelie penguin walking by on the ice off East Antarctica Sunday, some 100 nautical miles east of French Antarctic station Dumont D'Urville and about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, Tasmania.

Ice that has trapped a Russian ship with 74 people on board in Antarctica appeared to be cracking up on Sunday, raising hopes for a rescue as a powerful Australian icebreaker approached the stranded vessel.

The ice-bound ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, left New Zealand on Nov. 28 on a privately funded expedition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of an Antarctic journey led by famed Australian explorer Douglas Mawson.

It has been stuck in the ice since Dec. 24. Its passengers include scientists and tourists, many of them Australian, and a Russian crew.

The Australian icebreaker the Aurora Australis is expected to reach the stricken ship at about midnight on Sunday.

A Chinese icebreaker could not break through the thick ice earlier but the weather on Sunday boded well for a rescue.

"The ice conditions seem to have improved and there appears to be some softening and some cracks appearing," Lisa Martin of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the rescue, told Reuters.

Just how the rescue would be done would be worked out when the Aurora reached the area, she said.

Those on board were in good condition and have never been in any imminent danger.

"We're primarily looking to the Aurora to get us out," Chris Turney, an Australian professor onboard the beleaguered ship who is leading the expedition, wrote in an email to Reuters on Sunday.

"Hopefully there are some breaks developing in the surface from the weaker winds and sun during today."

The ship is stuck about 100 nautical miles (185 km) east of the French Antarctic station Dumont D'Urville and about 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) south of HobartTasmania.

The Aurora is the third icebreaker seconded by the Australian maritime rescue agency to try to reach the hemmed in ship.

The Chinese icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, is on standby at the edge of the ice and within sight of the trapped ship. It has a helicopter on board which could be used in the rescue.

A French icebreaker had also tried to help. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Antarctica: Cracking ice raises hopes aboard ice-bound ship
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1229/Antarctica-Cracking-ice-raises-hopes-aboard-ice-bound-ship
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe