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Hopes fade for Antarctic air rescue of ice-bound ship | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Sea ice conditions in the Antarctic are likely to delay plans to take passengers off an ice-bound ship, officials say. | |
Rescue co-ordinators based in Australia said it is now likely the airlift will not go ahead on Thursday as hoped. | |
They had earlier been optimistic that helicopter operations would begin soon as weather conditions had improved. | |
The ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, with 74 passengers and and crew aboard, has been stuck since Christmas Eve. | The ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, with 74 passengers and and crew aboard, has been stuck since Christmas Eve. |
Earlier efforts by three different icebreakers to free it failed. | Earlier efforts by three different icebreakers to free it failed. |
'Complex' | |
"Sea ice conditions are now likely to delay today's planned rescue of passengers from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy," said a statement from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC). | |
"It is now likely the rescue will not go ahead today." | |
RCC has been told that all 52 passengers - comprising scientists and tourists - will leave the Shokalskiy. All 22 crew are expected to remain on board. | |
The rescue would be a complex operation involving a number of steps and subject to factors such as the weather, the RCC said in an earlier statement. | |
It outlined a rescue plan to ferry groups of 12 passengers by helicopter to the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long from where they will be taken by sea to the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis. | |
The helicopter operations alone are expected to take five hours. | The helicopter operations alone are expected to take five hours. |
However the BBC's Andrew Luck-Baker, aboard the Shokalskiy, says the two icebreakers involved in the rescue plan are not currently in the correct position in clear water for the evacuation of the Shokalskiy to happen. | |
The Shokalskiy was trapped on Christmas Eve by thick sheets of ice driven by strong winds, about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart - the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania. | The Shokalskiy was trapped on Christmas Eve by thick sheets of ice driven by strong winds, about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart - the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania. |
Despite being trapped, the scientists have continued their experiments, measuring temperature and salinity through cracks in the surrounding ice. | Despite being trapped, the scientists have continued their experiments, measuring temperature and salinity through cracks in the surrounding ice. |
The vessel is being used by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago. | The vessel is being used by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago. |