Post date: Dec 27, 2013 4:56:0 PM
A ship trapped in Antarctic ice was close to being freed as a Chinese icebreaker neared the area where 74 people were stuck on the vessel.
COMMONWEALTH BAY, AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTICA TERRITORY, ANTARCTICA(DECEMBER 27, 2013) (CHRIS TURNEY) - A ship stuck in the Antarctic ice was close to being freed on Friday (December 27) with the first of three icebreakers closing in on the vessel.
The Chinese ship, Snow Dragon, was the closest of three icebreakers en route to an area off the coast of Antarctica to help free the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which is carrying 74 people, including a scientific expedition team."Well it's 9:30 in the evening on 27 December and I'm not sure if you can see but just over my right shoulder is the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon," said Professor of Climate Change at the University of New South Wales, Chris Turney, who has posted his videos on this YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/christurney/videos?view=46&shelf_id=6&tag_id=UCnXvYIsrfCW1t9zVCfih2_w.3.australasian-antarctic-expedition&sort=dd
The MV Akademik Shokalskiy has been trapped since Tuesday (December 24) when ice pushed by strong winds surrounded the vessel.
Three ships with icebreaking capability were dispatched to help dislodge the vessel, which is located about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, Tasmania, Turney explained in one of his earlier videos.
A low-pressure system has hung over the stranded ship, Turney said, creating blizzard conditions with wind gusts at times reaching in excess of 70 kph (43 mph).
The ship's passengers include some 50 scientists and tourists, many of them Australian, and some 20 crew members, mostly believed to be Russian.
The ship departed New Zealand on Nov. 28 on a privately funded expedition which commemorates the 100th anniversary of an Antarctic journey led by famed Australian explorer Douglas Mawson.