|
| In this photo provided China's official Xinhnua News Agency, the first group of passengers of the trapped Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy arrive at a safe surface off the Antarctic Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. A helicopter rescued all 52 passengers from the research ship that has been trapped in Antarctic ice, 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, Australia, since Christmas Eve after weather conditions finally cleared enough for the operation Thursday. |
CANBERRA,
Australia (AP) -- All 52 passengers rescued after being trapped for
more than a week on an icebound Russian research ship in the Antarctic
were aboard an Australian icebreaker slowly cracking through heavy sea
ice Friday toward open water after their dramatic rescue by a Chinese
helicopter.
A spot of clear weather allowed
the multinational rescue operation after blinding snow, strong winds and
thick sea ice forced rescuers to turn back time and again.
The
twin-rotor helicopter - its red and yellow colors contrasting with the
ice and snow - took seven hours to carry the scientists and tourists
from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy to an Australian
icebreaker, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's
Rescue Coordination Centre, which oversaw the rescue.
Earlier,
the passengers had linked arms and stomped out a landing site in the
snow next to the Russian ship for the helicopter, which is based on a
Chinese icebreaker.
Helicopter pilot Jia
Shuliang told China's official Xinhua News Agency that frequent weather
changes and landing on ice were among the major challenges he faced in
using a transport helicopter on a rescue operation for which it was
ill-equipped.
In an interview before on the
rescue, Jia told Xinhua he had no way of knowing whether the ice could
withstand the helicopter's weight.
"The
helicopter's takeoff and landing depends entirely on the pilot's naked
eye. It can be very dangerous whenever visibility is bad so we have to
wait patiently until the weather gets better," said the 55-year-old
pilot with 36 years' flying experience.
The
rescue came in the never-ending daylight of summer after days of failed
attempts to reach the vessel, which was trapped since Christmas Eve.
The
icebreaker Aurora Australis is expected to reach open sea later Friday
and take two weeks to bring the passengers to the Australian island
state of Tasmania.
"I think everyone is
relieved and excited to be going on to the Australian icebreaker and
then home," expedition leader Chris Turney told The Associated Press by
satellite phone from the Antarctic.
Sydney
resident Joanne Sim, a paying passenger, wept as she boarded the
Australian icebreaker. She said the passengers had spent their time
watching movies and playing games.
"It really
has been an emotional rollercoaster," she told a reporter from The
Sydney Morning Herald newspaper who is aboard the ship.
The
22 crew members of the Akademik Shokalskiy stayed with the icebound
vessel, which is not in any danger and has enough supplies on board to
last for weeks. They will wait until the ice that surrounds the ship
breaks up.
"It's quite uncertain how long it
will take the Shokalskiy to be able to break through the ice," ASMA
Emergency Response Division manager John Young said.
ASMA
was continuing to monitor the Russian and Chinese ships. The Chinese
ship was stationary in sea ice, but had not reported being stuck, Young
said.
The cost of the rescue would be carried
by the owners of the ships involved and their insurers, in accordance
with international conventions on sea rescues, Young said.
The
Akademik Shokalskiy, which left New Zealand on Nov. 28, got stuck after
a blizzard pushed the sea ice around the ship, freezing it in place
about 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) south of Hobart, Tasmania.
Three
icebreakers tried to try to crack their way through the ice surrounding
the Russian ship but all failed, forced to retreat to open water by
fierce winds and snow.
Young described the
rescue as one of the remotest and most complex ever coordinated from
Australia, which has rescue responsibility for part of Antarctic.
"The
protracted nature of operations in Antarctica and the difficulty of
getting good weather windows and getting the right ice conditions really
make life very difficult, and in this particular case, the simple fact
of having to move 52 people who are not really trained for that
environment added complexity," Young said.
The
Aurora's owner, P&O Maritime, said the 94-meter (308-foot) ship was
capable of holding 116 passengers in addition to its crew of 24.
The
scientific team on board the Russian vessel had been recreating
Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's 1911 to 1913 voyage to Antarctica.
Turney
had hoped to continue the trip if an icebreaker managed to free the
ship. Despite his disappointment over the expedition being cut short, he
said his spirits remained high.
"I'm a bit sad it's ended this way," he said. "But we got lots and lots of great science done."
China
has an interest in Antarctica, with the growing scientific power
recently beginning construction on its fourth Antarctic research base.
