Antarctic ship: New bid to free vessel trapped in ice

BBC News online -- 29 December 2013

The BBC's Andrew Luck-Baker: "We're wondering if this is our lucky break."

An Australian vessel is en route to East Antarctica in a renewed bid to free a scientific mission ship trapped in dense pack ice since Tuesday.

Earlier rescue attempts by Chinese and French icebreakers were foiled by the thick ice.
However, a BBC correspondent on the Russian research vessel says big cracks have appeared, raising hopes that it may even be able to move on its own.

Seventy-four scientists, tourists and crew are on the Academician Shokalskiy.
The vessel is being used by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago.

The Shokalskiy remains well stocked with food and is in no danger, according to the team.
Despite being trapped, the scientists have continued their experiments, measuring temperature and salinity through cracks in the surrounding ice.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the rescue, said the Aurora Australis was expected to reach the trapped research ship on Sunday around 12:00 GMT.

The powerful icebreaker can cut ice up to 1.6m (5.2ft) thick - potentially still enough to plough through the estimated three-metre wall surrounding the Shokalskiy.

If this latest relief operation fails, passengers could be winched to safety by a helicopter on board the Chinese icebreaker, which had to abort its rescue mission on Saturday.

The Snow Dragon came within seven nautical miles (11 km) of the Russian ship before stalling and being forced to return to the open sea.

The BBC's Andrew Luck-Baker, who is part of the expedition, said the helicopter flew around the Shokalskiy on Sunday to see if the Snow Dragon could launch another attempt to break through the ice.

Our correspondent says a change in wind direction and slightly warmer temperatures have caused the ice to break and formed pools of water.

But he also warns that conditions could worsen again because of the Antarctica's extremely unpredictable weather.

Chris Fogwill and the team are retracing the steps of Douglas Mawson a century ago

This handout image released by the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science at the University of New South Wales and taken by Andrew Peacock of www.footloosefotography.com on December 27, 2013 shows the ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy trapped in the ice at sea off Antarctica

The Shokalskiy was trapped by thick sheets of ice driven by high winds

The scientists have continued to carry out experiments in the ice

An Australian rescue boat is not expected to reach the Russian expedition until Sunday

The Shokalskiy was trapped on Christmas Day 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.

Science volunteer Sean Borkovic earlier told the BBC: "I'll always remember this, that's for sure. It's brilliant. We've got some lovely light and the weather's pretty mild considering. The ship looks solid. I think we'll be good."

A visit from Secret Santa and a sumptuous Christmas dinner contributed to the mood of optimism.
The goal of the modern-day Australasian Antarctic Expedition is to repeat many of the original measurements and studies of the Mawson expedition to see how facets of the environment have changed over the past century.