Remember! It’s summer down there!
The MV Akademik Shokalskiy, a 71-meter-long Russian-flagged with 74 people aboard including 52 explorers and tourists, is trapped in the ice approximately 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart, according to a media release from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)
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MV Akademik Shokalskiy Location 25Dec13 (AMSA)
AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre Australia (RCC Australia) was contacted by the Falmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in the UK on Christmas morning.
The ship is trapped in the ice 100 nautical miles east of the French base Dumont D’Urville.
RCC Australia issued a broadcast to icebreaking vessels in the area.
Three ships with icebreaking capability have responded, including the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) vessel Aurora Australis, and are now enroute to the area.
The closest vessels are at least two days sailing time away.
Those on board the ship, which left New Zealand late last month, include explorers, scientists and tourists, as well as crew.
The voyage was planned as part of an expedition to mark the centenary of explorer Douglas Mawson’s trip and to get the chance to see Mawson’s Huts which have been inaccessible for some time because of an iceberg.
The ship full of tourists, explorers and scientists was sailing in Antarctica on a voyage from New Zealand, when it got stuck in the ice.
Despite the vessel being the Finnish-built ice-strengthened, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, it can’t move.
Further updates will be provided when more information is available.
Blizzard could play havoc: AMSA
AMSA’s Andrea Hayward-Maher says the search-and-rescue operation will be difficult.
“It’s quite windy and there could be some sort of blizzard conditions,” she said.
“Weather conditions, if they become difficult, could hinder the options that we have.
“But hopefully those ice breaking vessels will be able to get there as soon as they possibly can to render assistance.”
http://www.amsa.gov.au/media/documents/25122013AkademikShokalskiyUpdate1_Media_Release.pd
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-25/antarctic-travellers-stranded-in-ice-off-hobart/5174828
http://www.sott.net/article/270821-Antarctic-expedition-scientists-trapped-in-ice
http://www.smh.com.au/
http://rt.com/news/antarctic-
Thanks to Mervyn Leavesley, Craig Adkins, Oz Steamer, Allan Cotterill, Rosco Mac, Aubrey Smyth and Amit Naik for these links
Two things to note, says Oz:#1. It’s Summer…. the sea ice is supposed to be at a minimum, both in extent and also thickness;#2. The publication (the Sydney Morning Herald) is usually rabidly Warmist. It usually doesn’t publish anything that might even hint at contradicting the theory of Global Warming.
“I don’t think these people will be having a Merry Christmas,” says Mervyn. “Antarctic ice strikes back!”