Either could be called upon to help the Shokalskiy if required. The American icebreaker, the Polar Star, is about 10 days away and an even bigger Russian icebreaker, the Federov, is 28 days away. They will remain in position until the Shokalskiy can break out of the ice – either on its own, if the winds change and blow the ice apart, or when stronger icebreaking vessels can come to help. The Russian crew of the Shokalskiy will be given extra provisions and will remain on board after the AAE members have been evacuated. Photograph: Laurence Topham/Guardian Photograph: Laurence Topham/Guardian The Chinese helicopter that will airlift crew and passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy. Many of the icebreakers just can't get through.” “We've been so unfortunate – there was a massive breakout of very thick, old ice from the other side of the Mertz glacier, and it was swept to sea,” he said. Turney said the expedition team was disappointed that the Shokalskiy had been unable to break free from the ice with help from the icebreakers and get home under its own steam. The Aurora Australis will then sail to the nearest Australian Antarctic base, Casey, before heading back to Hobart in Australia in late January. The Chinese helicopter that will be used is too heavy to land on the Australian vessel's deck. On Tuesday morning its captain confirmed that the vessel would move to join the Xue Long, which itself unsuccessfully tried to break through the ice on Friday last week, to co-ordinate the air evacuation.ĪAE members will be picked up on the ice next to the Shokalskiy and dropped off on a similar landing pad next to the Aurora Australis. It made several attempts to cut through the ice over the next day but was thwarted each time. The Australian icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, arrived at the edge of the sea ice surrounding the Shokalskiy – about 20 nautical miles away – in the early hours of 30 December, local time. “We're not going to be flying today, possibly not even tomorrow,” said Chris Turney, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales and a leader of the AAE. On Tuesday morning conditions were not yet suitable, with rain, heavy winds and clouds. The Chinese vessel will wait for better weather and visibility before launching the evacuation. Expedition leaders then asked for volunteers among the AAE members to help prepare a landing area for the helicopter from the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long on a suitable ice floe next to the Russian-operated ship. At about 2pm local time on Tuesday, Greg Mortimer, co-leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE), gave notice of an evacuation to everyone on board the Shokalskiy.
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