Polar Bear, the US Coast Guard icebreaker, works the ice channel near McMurdo, Antarctica in this handout photo. — Reuters photo
SYDNEY: A US icebreaker was dispatched yesterday to assist an icebound Russian research ship and Chinese vessel trapped during a rescue bid in Antarctica, as the leader of a group airlifted to safety rejected criticism of their expedition.
The US Coast Guard’s Polar Star accepted an Australian request to go to the aid of the marooned Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy which has been beset by ice since December 24.
It will also aid the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long which was involved in a dramatic helicopter rescue of the Shokalskiy’s 52 passengers on Thursday.
The Xue Long has become trapped itself, with China vowing ‘all-out efforts’ to assist the ship which is surrounded by ice of up to four metres thick and is stuck 21 kilometres from open water, according to state news agency Xinhua which has reporters on board.
China’s Antarctic division director Qu Tanzhou said the Xue Long may attempt to chop itself free of the ice on Monday if conditions permit, with a massive iceberg expected to move out of its path.
“Weather forecasts and ice monitoring show favourable weather conditions may appear on Monday, which may bring winds to blow the ice floe away, providing a good opportunity for Xue Long to sail out,” Qu told the China Daily newspaper.
If that was not possible and other rescue plans failed, leaving the ship stranded “for a very long time, which is very rare indeed, then we’ll have to evacuate the people onboard and leave the vessel there,” he added.
Xue Long’s mission — China’s 30th to the Antarctic continent — which included construction of a new research base, site inspection for another and a range of scientific work, will now have to be revised, Qu said.
The Polar Star, which left the US in early December to clear a channel for ships resupplying McMurdo Station research base, left Sydney Sunday with provisions, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
The 122-metre (400-foot) ship is capable of continuously breaking ice up to 1.8 metres thick while travelling at three knots, and can break ice more than six metres thick by ramming.
It is expected to take seven days to reach Commonwealth Bay where the two ships are trapped, 100 nautical miles from the French Antarctic base of Dumont d’Urville. —AFP