Abandons its bid to reach trapped Antarctic passenger ship.
The Russian-flagged Academic Shokalskiy, which has been trapped in the ice since Christmas Day, is still awaiting rescue after a Chinese icebreaker failed to reach it.
The Russian vessel, with 74 people on board, sent a distress call after becoming trapped in heavy sea ice.
The Snow Dragon icebreaker was itself stalled by heavy ice, which has continued to expand over the past three days.
“It can’t break through any further,” said Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spokeswoman Andrea Hayward-Maher.
The Chinese ship was rated at being able to break through ice up to a metre deep.
There had also been fears that blizzards could hamper the rescue effort.
If none of the icebreakers can reach the ship, a second option may be to consider using a helicopter the trapped explorers to the Chinese vessel.
Professor Chris Turney, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition and professor of climate change at the University of New South Wales, said everyone on board was safe and well.
The goal of the expedition was to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago, and to repeat many of the original measurements and studies of Mawson’s expedition to see how the environment has changed.
I’m just taking a wild stab here, but if they’re trapped in the ice, might that give them a hint that conditions are now snowier and colder than they were a hundred years ago?
Remember, this is summertime down there.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25523952
Thanks to Dean Koehler and Oz Steamer for this link
“That non-existent Antarctic Summer sea ice is getting worse,” says Oz.
