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Post by Andrew on Dec 29, 2013 19:40:45 GMT
MV Akademik Shokalskiy has become trapped in sea ice in the Commonwealth Bay region. The crew is russian but most on board are Australians and NZers. Shokalskiy was built by Finland for Russia in the 1980's. The ship is hard against the land fast ice and hemmed in by sea ice being blown by strong winds. Possibly conditions will change and the boat will be able to free itself before any rescue can be attempted. Auroa can penetrate ice 1.35cm thick. The chinese and french boats in the area can do 1M. Auroa is reporting they have received reports the ice is up to 4m thick. At this stage it is unclear if the ship can be rescued or it will be necessary for conditions to improve. Auroa will be in position in about 7 hours. www.antarctica.gov.au/webcams/aurorasecure3.aad.gov.au/proms/public/schedules/voyageTrack.cfmmedia.theage.com.au/news/world-news/aurora-australis-close-to-shokalskiy-5040873.html |
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Post by sigurdur on Dec 29, 2013 20:33:26 GMT
Thanks Andrew.
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Post by Andrew on Dec 30, 2013 8:47:37 GMT
Australian rescue attempt quickly abandoned due to ice thickness. Visibility permitting, passengers can be transferred by Chinese helicopter. The Chinese have already flown over the trapped boat. www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/aurora-australis-abandons-attempt-to-save-akademik-shokalskiy-in-antarctica-20131230-302na.htmlThe video shows Aurora in apparently easily passable ice being repeatedly stopped by the ice dispite numerous ramming and alternate course selections. Interesting to see that elsewhere Captain Doyle refers to the ramming as 'bashing your way through'.  Very interestingly Captain Doyle says of the Chinese boat which abandoned the rescue a couple of days ago: The Xue Long, which has been waiting near the Mertz Glacier since Boxing Day, was also making its way back to open water. “They're trying to make it back into open water so they're not trapped as well,” Captain Doyle said. |
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Post by Andrew on Dec 30, 2013 17:16:58 GMT
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Post by trbixler on Dec 30, 2013 17:32:55 GMT
At least someone noticed. Not so much a summer frolic as anticipated. "MSM Glosses Over Irony of Global Warming Scientists Trapped in Antarctic Ice" " Finally, National Geographic bluntly states the mission purpose: ...The current crop of explorers are hoping to document some of the same data and compare them to Mawson's numbers, "using the twist of modern technology," Turney told National Geographic earlier this month. As may be expected, global warming might play a role in this, he suggests, particularly with respect to melted ice in the East Antarctic. Ah, so now we see why the MSM reluctance to flat out state why the scientists are in the Antarctic. Anything to avoid an inconvenient (but accurate) headline like this: GLOBAL WARMING SCIENTISTS TRAPPED IN ANTARCTIC ICE" link |
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Post by trbixler on Dec 30, 2013 21:48:57 GMT
Oh the CO2 of it all. "Global warming scientists forced to admit defeat... because of too much ice: Stranded Antarctic ship's crew will be rescued by helicopter"  "They went in search evidence of the world’s melting ice caps, but instead a team of climate scientists have been forced to abandon their mission … because the Antarctic ice is thicker than usual at this time of year. The scientists have been stuck aboard the stricken MV Akademik Schokalskiy since Christmas Day, with repeated sea rescue attempts being abandoned as icebreaking ships failed to reach them. Now that effort has been ditched, with experts admitting the ice is just too thick. Instead the crew have built an icy helipad, with plans afoot to rescue the 74-strong team by helicopter." link |
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Post by Andrew on Dec 31, 2013 3:26:46 GMT
looks like they are back in the ice again but no media reports so far.  According to comments on a Finnish Web site the Auroa Australis is a Finnish design built in Australia, with some parts made in Finland. |
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Post by icefisher on Dec 31, 2013 4:49:00 GMT
Since these global warming scientists are retracing Douglas Mawson's voyage of discovery a 100 years ago to compare to today's conditions it appears the first log entries are going to be really interesting.
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Post by Ratty on Dec 31, 2013 5:28:52 GMT
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Post by Andrew on Dec 31, 2013 6:15:17 GMT
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Post by magellan on Dec 31, 2013 7:23:58 GMT
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Post by karlox on Dec 31, 2013 8:52:46 GMT
I´ve told them to check this before departing to Antartica but they wouldn´t pay any attention to my warning   |
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Post by Andrew on Jan 1, 2014 14:55:58 GMT
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25558276The BBC and others are reporting Auroa is attempting to reach the still trapped Chinese icebreaker, and the US coastguards Polar Star is en route to Mcmurdo Sound and can be diverted if necessary.  Polar Star can break 2M of level continuously at 3mph and can smash thru 6m of ice if it can get free from the force of the ice so it can accelerate and smash thru the obstruction blow by blow. The ice in the area is at least 2M thick and has 1 meter of compacted snow on top - so it is far from being ordinary level ice. Also it is compressed ice which makes it very difficult to pass thru. I can see a scenario building with it being a mild baltic winter where the Russians send a spare nuclear boat from Saint Petersberg to free the Americans!
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Post by cuttydyer on Jan 2, 2014 7:48:09 GMT
BBC reports : "A Chinese helicopter arrived close to the vessel, bringing in a crew to assess the landing situation" - looks like a rescue by helicopter is imminent...  Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25573096 |
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Post by cuttydyer on Jan 2, 2014 9:18:53 GMT
Just when I thought this situation couldn't get any funnier, Anthony Watts (WUWT) has now been asked to assist in the provision of Antarctic weather data for the crew of the ice-bound research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy.  Video link (relevant footage at 03:40): www.kusi.com/video?clipId=9686594&autostart=true |
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