Vessels trapped in Antarctic sea ice break free, head for open waters

[News_Editor]

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (BNO NEWS) -- A Russian cruise ship that was mostly evacuated last week after it got stuck in sea ice in Antarctica broke free late on Tuesday and began moving towards open waters, Australian officials said. A Chinese vessel that also got stuck after participating in the rescue operation has also broken free.

The captain of the MV Akademik Shokalskiy reported at approximately 8 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) on Tuesday that an opening had emerged in the ice after the wind changed direction. It allowed the Russian vessel - which still has 22 crew members on board - to successfully clear the area containing the heaviest ice and begin making slow progress north through lighter ice conditions.

The Chinese research vessel Xue Long, which initially went to the area to rescue the Russian vessel but later became trapped in sea ice as well, broke free at about 9 p.m. AEDT. The captain informed the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) that they too were now making slow progress through lighter ice conditions.

"Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) Australia has advised the captains of both vessels to attempt to reach open waters and advise the RCC once clear of the ice field," an AMSA spokesperson said early Wednesday, adding that the Xue Long had advised it no longer required assistance.

The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star, which was sent to rescue the trapped vessels, will continue to head towards the area until both ships are free of the ice field and no longer in danger. "The Akademik Shokalskiy continues to move through the ice field and RCC Australia is awaiting confirmation that it does not require any further assistance," AMSA added.

The MV Akademik Shokalskiy became beset by ice on early Christmas morning when the vessel was approximately 1,500 nautical miles (2,778 kilometers) south of the Australian island state of Tasmania. The former research ship was on an Antarctic cruise, carrying 74 people, to retrace the footsteps of Australian Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson more than 100 years ago.

All 52 passengers, along with their luggage and some equipment, were rescued by a helicopter from Xue Long on Thursday evening and flown to the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis. That vessel is now heading towards a base to complete a resupply before heading to Australia, where they are not expected to arrive until later this month.

Throughout the ordeal, however, none of the passengers and crew members were ever in any acute danger as they had supplies lasting for several weeks.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

[RickBradford]

Some belated good news for the 150 or so Russian and Chinese sailors marooned by these twerps.

And so it was a panic rather than an emergency, the only life-altering condition being that the tourists had run out of banana milkshakes and peanut butter.

The US icebreaker Polar Star is still heading towards the scene in case any further assistance is required, after which everyone can start trying to resurrect their Antarctic science programs.

[Credo]

I think the captain of the ship is responsible for making sure it is safe. The 'twerps' are not responsible.

[khwaibah]

I think the captain of the ship is responsible for making sure it is safe. The 'twerps' are not responsible.

They all are. They should be made to pay the cost of this debacle.

[RickBradford]

I think the captain of the ship is responsible for making sure it is safe. The 'twerps' are not responsible.

The ship is safe -- just got stuck in ice, after following the twerps' orders (they chartered it, after all).

Even the twerps tweeted that they were in "no danger" -- they just didn't fancy spending any more time without the comforts of life on their ship, hence the breathless and quite unnecessary rescue.

It must be very difficult for a charter captain to balance following the instructions of the charterer with the need to maintain safety of those on board. Nobody has been hurt, or even seriously discommoded, in this incident, so the captain of the Akademik got that part right.

Whether he should have followed the twerps' instructions to turn back towards Antarctica on Christmas Day is something he will no doubt have to justify to the ship's owners when he finally gets back home.

[Scott]

Continued reference to the passengers on the vessel as twerps will get your post deleted. The term is inflammatory.

[sangfroid]

The whole thing was an unmitigated disaster "The ship of fools" some sections of the media are calling it.

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/leo-mckinstry/452238/Global-warming-brigade-lose-the-plot-on-a-ship-of-fools

[Publicus]

And we know how fair and unbiased the right wing media are.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

U.S. Vessel to Aid Ships Stuck in Antarctica

Rachel French/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker the Polar Star has accepted an Australian request to assist in rescue operations in Antarctica

TAISHAN, China — 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 on Sunday 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.

The deployment of the American ship, the Polar Star, 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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/world/us-vessel-to-aid-ships-stranded-in-antarctica.html?_r=0

The Akademik Shokalskiy has been stranded since December 24, 2013

No one could get a photo of the Chinese rescue ship that got stranded in the ice - Beijing declared an Air Defense Identification Zone over it.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Publicus

[FM505]

Hoxers chasing windmills... should be the headline.

Weak ass reporting by BNO... nothing about the intent of the mission... and yes, they should pay for the rescue... or those attempts at resuce.

Just like CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/27/world/antarctica-ship-stuck. Last paragraph in that story finally reveals: The expedition to gauge the effects of climate change on the region began November 27.

Global warming scientists forced to admit defeat... because of too much ice:

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531159/Antarctic-crew-build-ice-helipad-help-rescuers.html#ixzz2pmTiz4yg

Frozen Out: 98% of Stories Ignore That Ice-bound Ship Was On Global Warming Mission

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mike-ciandella/2014/01/02/frozen-out-98-stories-ignore-ice-bound-ship-was-global-warming-missi#ixzz2pmUe01K6

Research ship trapped in Antarctic ice because of weather, not climate change

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/03/antarctica-ice-trapped-academik-shokalskiy-climate-change

[sevenhills]

The whole thing was an unmitigated disaster "The ship of fools" some sections of the media are calling it.

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/leo-mckinstry/452238/Global-warming-brigade-lose-the-plot-on-a-ship-of-fools

Correct, They are the "ship of fools" as the lame stream left wing media convieniently forgot to mention in their stories was that the majority of the people on board were "climate scientists" going to check on the affects of "Global Warming" in the Antarctic in summer and they got stuck in thick pack ice....How ironic.

[JusMe]

As FM505 and Sevenhills have pointed out, this was a ship chartered by a group out to show how much the Antarctic ice had diminished as a result of global warming.

Incredibly ironic then that they should be trapped in a mass of increasing ice there.

And yes, very few of the media make that point.

[BlackJack]

there are thousands more people on grants to investigate global warming than there is people getting grants for being sceptics

these boats were stuck in the ice as it was increasing as it does in this season

[Publicus]

A simple basic human interest story, which is how journalism views this dramatic rescue of people stranded in Antarctic ice, now becomes a right wing cause celebre against the science of climate change.

The original and consistent story here is a dramatic human interest one, not one of political ideology or partisan dogmas. Civilian scientists in ships doing research in the frozen and desolate Antarctic get caught and stuck - endangered - by the force of Nature. The MSM flocks to this stuff of Hollywood disaster movie scripts and always has.

Indeed a rescue ship dispatched by Beijing to assist the Russian ship itself becomes stuck in the ice. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year 2014 suddenly are interrupted by this tension which involves several nations, their citizens, their governments, the force of nature, technology - one could go on about the dramatic human interest driving the story. The media couldn't create and develop a more opportune theme or time of the year to attract public attention even if it were to make this stuff up.

Adding to the mix, the United States is called on by an affected government to provide the cavalry that would come to the rescue, only to see the involved ships finally and after great effort free themselves from the frozen ensnarement.

Spoiling the whole of the classic story line comes the right wing and their highly politicized agendas and dogmas, taking factual MSM news coverage to rail against the purpose of the expeditions to the detriment of themselves by interposing themselves between we the readers/viewers and the people involved, i.e., the simple human interest story.

Give it a rest guys.

[Publicus]

The whole thing was an unmitigated disaster "The ship of fools" some sections of the media are calling it.

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/leo-mckinstry/452238/Global-warming-brigade-lose-the-plot-on-a-ship-of-fools

Correct, They are the "ship of fools" as the lame stream left wing media convieniently forgot to mention in their stories was that the majority of the people on board were "climate scientists" going to check on the affects of "Global Warming" in the Antarctic in summer and they got stuck in thick pack ice....How ironic. alt=cheesy.gif pagespeed_url_hash=3951237149 width=32 height=20> alt=whistling.gif pagespeed_url_hash=3700464609 width=19 height=18> alt=cheesy.gif pagespeed_url_hash=3951237149 width=32 height=20>

As FM505 and Sevenhills have pointed out, this was a ship chartered by a group out to show how much the Antarctic ice had diminished as a result of global warming.

Incredibly ironic then that they should be trapped in a mass of increasing ice there.

And yes, very few of the media make that point.

A ship's captain has complete command authority and responsibility for the safety and the success of the craft, to include aircraft, space shuttles and the like.

Trying to focus on the passengers is misdirection.

[Steely Dan]

As FM505 and Sevenhills have pointed out, this was a ship chartered by a group out to show how much the Antarctic ice had diminished as a result of global warming.

Incredibly ironic then that they should be trapped in a mass of increasing ice there.

And yes, very few of the media make that point.

And should any of the rescuers or rescued warmists go to the U.S. they will be met by record low temperatures.

[RickBradford]

A simple basic human interest story, which is how journalism views this dramatic rescue of people stranded in Antarctic ice, now becomes a right wing cause celebre against the science of climate change.

The original and consistent story here is a dramatic human interest one, not one of political ideology or partisan dogmas.

Nice try. But there were several journalists/film crews on board, from the likes of the BBC and The Guardian, whose stock-in-trade is political ideology and partisan dogma.

The mission was led by a man (Turney) who is the "inventor and founding director of a carbon refining company that offers a global solution for mitigating the effects of climate change" and he packed the boat with representatives of media outlets which have demonstrated themselves to be uber-alarmists on the subject of climate change.

Can you imagine the hysterical media frenzy if they had encountered less ice than they expected? No, probably not.

Simple basic human interest story, bah.

It was an agit-prop stunt which went spectacularly wrong and backfired to the maximum extent.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been deleted.

[Tywais]

Comment on moderation removed. If you have an issue with a decision contact the moderator and not post in public as per forum rules.

[euca]

Gents, there is no such bod as a 'Captain' in commercial shipping. The title is 'Master'. 'Captain' is a rank in most navies and was recently [1800s] lifted by ships' Masters. 'Master' goes back at least 1000 years with all the true respectability that entails.

[impulse]

there are thousands more people on grants to investigate global warming than there is people getting grants for being sceptics

these boats were stuck in the ice as it was increasing as it does in this season

Probably because big business is so eager to sponsor the skeptics, and don't want them taking grant money.

Because then they'd be hamstrung by the nuisance of reporting what they actually found, and not what their sponsors want them to report.

[RickBradford]

The "rescue" is complete.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority can confirm that the Akademik Shokalskiy and the Xue Long have broken free from the ice in Antarctica and are no longer in need of assistance.

In total five ships were involved in the multi-lateral cooperative effort – Akademik Shokalskiy (Russia), L’Astrolabe (France), Xue Long (China), Aurora Australis (Australia) and USCGC Polar Star (United States of America).

The national Antarctic programs and other agencies of France, China, Australia, Germany and the United States of America have been engaged in actual operational responses, contingency planning or the provision of specialist data.

“This was a great example of the multi-lateral cooperative nature of Antarctic operations,” said AMSA Acting CEO Mick Kinley.

Indeed, and now let's wait for the bill.

[Steely Dan]

It's no laughing matter

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100252804/on-why-it-would-be-quite-wrong-to-laugh-about-prof-chris-turkey-and-his-antarctic-ship-of-fools/

[OZEMADE]

And the last thing the Russians and Chinese wanted was a Yank ship coming to rescue them. Boy would they have lost face in a big way.

[RickBradford]

All the ships are now free, and continuing with their various assignments.

The Akademik Shokalskiy, which took the climate activists to Antarctica, is well on its way while the Aurora Australis, to which the tourists were daringly airlifted, is continuing its Antarctic supply mission and will get back to Australia in about a fortnight.

So, if the tourists hadn't abandoned ship so hastily, they would have been back home much sooner.

Plus, the director of the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Tony Fleming, has rebutted the expedition leader's claims that the jaunt had the "official stamp of approval" of AAD, and added AAD will make efforts to recover the cost of the rescue which set back their own missions.

All's well that ends well.

[F430murci]

And the last thing the Russians and Chinese wanted was a Yank ship coming to rescue them. Boy would they have lost face in a big way.

Nah, they are probably grateful for the assistance and much more okay with it than the chip on the shoulder crowd on here sitting around in their tightie whities behind a computer screen. There is typically a lot of comrade when it comes to people that make their living on ships regardless as to what country they are from.

[Steely Dan]

I'm not sure how ships got stuck in ice that was supposed to have melted by now, according to Al Gore that is.

http://order-order.com/2014/01/10/guy-news-special-al-gores-ice-crap-prediction/