Edward Wong has an article in The New York Times about the latest:
Australian officials have asked an American icebreaker to help with the rescue of Chinese and Russian vessels that are surrounded by ice floes off Antarctica, according to an announcement by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The officials said the United States Coast Guard had answered the request and was making a ship available to assist the other vessels.Rico says he'll pass; it's always too cold there...
The deployment of the American ship, the Polar Star (photo), for the rescue operation adds to an increasingly complex set of issues for international vessels that have found themselves struggling against unfavorable ice and weather conditions in Antarctica.
A news release from the Australian authorities said the Polar Star, which had been docked in Australia, has been en route to Antarctica since 3 December 2013. Its original mission was to clear a navigable shipping channel in McMurdo Sound to the National Science Foundation’s Scientific Research Station. The channel is used by resupply ships to deliver food, fuel, and other goods to the station. Australian officials said the American icebreaker would continue with that mission after the rescue operation was over.
Australian officials said the Chinese ship, the Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, had notified the authorities that it might be trapped by ice, one day after the Chinese used a helicopter from the ship to rescue fifty passengers from the Russian ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, which had become trapped on Christmas Eve. The passengers were scientists, tourists, and journalists on a research trip, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
Those passengers were taken by the Chinese helicopter, the Snow Eagle, and a barge to an Australian icebreaker, the Aurora Australis. The twenty crew members of the Russian ship had said they would remain onboard their vessel and leave Antarctica once ice conditions improved.
After the Chinese vessel said that it could become trapped in ice, Australian maritime officials told the Aurora to remain in the area. The Chinese sailors told the Australian authorities that the Xue Long’s attempt to maneuver through the ice had failed. But the ship was in no immediate danger, and it had food supplies for several weeks, Australian officials said.
The senior crew members of the Chinese and Russian vessels said they no longer needed assistance from the Aurora Australis, with the fifty rescued expedition members, left for Casey Station, an Australian base in Antarctica, to complete a resupply, and then on to Hobart in Tasmania, Australian officials said.
A reporter for Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, sent a report from the Xue Long that said all crew and passengers on board the Chinese vessel “are safe and making efforts to get out of trouble”. The ship was surrounded by heavy ice floes and was thirteen miles from an ice-free area.
Wang Jianzhong, the ship’s captain, said the Xue Long had been surrounded by ice floes pushed by strong winds in the past few days, Xinhua reported. The thickest ice layer measured ten to thirteen feet.
President Xi Jinping of China has urged an “all-out effort” to ensure the safety of those aboard the Xue Long, Xinhua reported. Prime Minister Li Keqiang has told the crew members and passengers to stay calm and wait for an opportunity to get out of trouble, the report said.
Xinhua also reported that China planned to build a new icebreaker, one with blades at the bow and stern, and able to cut ice five feet thick. Qu Tanzhou, the director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, said the ship would be a “mobile research station”. The Xue Long was built in the Ukraine and deployed by China in 1994. It was designed to transport supplies to Chinese research stations in Antarctica, Xinhua reported.
Australian officials said they first asked the United States Coast Guard for help on Friday. The Coast Guard officially accepted the request and released its vessel to the Australians for the search-and-rescue efforts on Saturday. The Polar Star was scheduled to leave Sydney on Sunday after taking on supplies, and it would take about seven days to reach Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica, depending on weather and ice conditions.
The 122-meter Polar Star is one of the largest ships in the Coast Guard fleet and has 140 crew members.
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