1pm AEDT: 31st December 2013
Helicopter to rescue passengers from Russian vessel in Antarctica
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia) was advised this morning by the Aurora Australis that the ship will not be able to reach the MV Akademik Shokalskiy.
The Aurora Australis advised RCC Australia it would be at risk of becoming beset by ice itself if it continued to make further rescue attempts.
The Aurora Australis made attempts yesterday to reach the MV Akademik Shokalskiy but was driven back into open waters due to adverse weather conditions such as winds up to 30 knots and snow showers resulting in poor visibility. The ship is currently located about 16 nautical miles east of the Russian vessel.
The helicopter on board the Chinese flagged vessel Xue Long will now be used to rescue the passengers from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy.
This rescue will be a complex operation involving a number of steps and subject to factors such as weather.
The helicopter is unable to fly in the current weather conditions, and will hold off on the rescue until conditions improve. Weather conditions are unlikely to start improving until tomorrow and decisions related to carrying out the rescue may be made at short notice.
In preparation for the rescue, an area for the helicopter to land has been marked on the ice near the MV Akademik Shokalskiy.
RCC Australia has been advised that all 52 passengers will leave the MV Akademik Shokalskiy. All 22 crew members are expected to remain with the vessel.
The passengers are expected to be rescued by helicopter in groups of 12 and will be initially transported to the Xue Long. The Aurora Australis will then use its barge to transfer all 52 passengers on board their vessel. The barge can take up to 22 people at a time.
RCC Australia continues to coordinate the incident and is in regular contact with all vessels involved and continues to monitor the situation. The vessels involved are also in close contact with each other via VHF radio.
The search and rescue operation commenced on Christmas morning AEDT after the Falmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in the United Kingdom received a distress message via satellite from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy. The distress message and subsequent coordination of the incident was passed to RCC Australia, who is the responsible search and rescue authority for this area.
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Source: http://www.amsa.gov.au/media/documents/31122013AkademikShokalskiyUpdate8_Media_Release.pdf
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re: HedgingContrarianism (@JackHBarnes) says December 30, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Meanwhile the US is still going to send its Polar Star 9,300 miles south to free the Chinese and Russian ships, instead of being available for Arctic Winter rescue.
Polar Star was already en route south to work on the resupply route to McMurdo …
The scientists involved are insisting that Antartic sea ice is melting. It’s a good thing it melts, otherwise the oceans would freeze together from the south to the nole poles. Another preventable calamity scientists brought upon themselves by lack of common sense.
…North poles…
Copernicus34 says:
December 31, 2013 at 7:00 am
so, the Aurora Australis describes the weather in that area as 30 knot winds with snow showers, and one of the climate thugs on the ship describes it as a ‘warm rain’? Who should we believe I ask?
Tough question; the climate scientist who makes a living from AGW and started a company to sequester carbon or the ship captain that wants to save his ship, passengers and crew?
..one more time.. north pole
Speak out and be burned at the stake? You must be kidding.
It remains to be seen how the alarmists spin this when its over. The only thing I am sure of is that it will be at least as amusing as their situation at present…When the booze is gone, I wonder who will be accused of eating the strawberries
Anthony, The title leaves something to be desired. I was always taught that to be a scientist, one must practice the Scientific Method of research….By that definition is there actually any scientists aboard?
I watched all the TV reports, and neither the BBC, SKY or CNN would report that this was a Global Warming research mission. They are all covering up for the Global Warming industry. Why?
Only the UK Daily Mail and the Oz Telegraph, it seems, will report the truth. Even the UK Daily Telegraph merely calls this a “Russian ship”.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531159/Antarctic-crew-build-ice-helipad-help-rescuers.html
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/global-warming-activists-still-trapped-by-inconvenient-ice/story-fni0cx12-1226792726099
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/andrewbolt/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/media_cover_up_warmist_scientists_trapped_by_ice_are_just_tourists/
Why is everyone covering up for the Green Global Warming scam?
Who is paying them to keep quiet?
Ralph
Ralph – maybe it’s Al Gore’s silent partner(s) over at his Climate Reality Show …
HedgingContrarianism (@JackHBarnes) says:
December 30, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Meanwhile the US is still going to send its Polar Star 9,300 miles south to free the Chinese and Russian ships, instead of being available for Arctic Winter rescue.
~
. .I looked up the Polar Star. the records indicate it sailed from Seattle for McMurdo on Dec. 4th, well before this fiasco – but it will take away from their duties of supporting McMurdo. still, these so-called scientists are disguting that they are taking this situation so lightly. they see this as one big party. I hope all the rescue crews remain safe.
IMHO the reason the crew are not leaving is simple. They will finally be rid of the “passengers” and being Good Russians will have no trouble with cold weather… especially after they break out their personal bottles of Vodka to celebrate… So “harzardous duty pay” while being their own private party boat. Heck, I’d stay; once the wacho’s were off… It all ought to melt in a month or two and with just the crew, rations ought to be good. Plenty of room in the escape boats too.
Scientists and passengers? They are all passengers and supernumeries if you ask me, not a true scientist among them.
It would be good if the rescue attempt has to be abandoned. Then these scientists can remain on the boat and concentrate on their work and study while they wait until the ice melts. They might even have their own eureka moment and realize that weather patterns are influenced by a lot of factors like, for example, the long term consequences of change in sun’s outputs at each end of the spectrum.
“M Seward says:
December 31, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Scientists and passengers? They are all passengers and supernumeries if you ask me, not a true scientist among them.”
They could be named the hard core policy based “cult” that previously was known as scientists?
Having a daughter who is helicopter pilot (oil exploration at sea, North Slope, AK, USA in the past, currently Nigeria), my thoughts are going to the pilot(s) who will do the rescue: in the circumstances at Antarcica an extremely difficult and risky undertaking.
That the party members even don’t have a clue of the risk they are to their rescuers (and the crew on board) makes me angry. Let them pay personally all the costs they have caused with their foolness…
“Why is everyone covering up for the Green Global Warming scam?
Who is paying them to keep quiet?”
I don’t think the media and it’s journalists are payed to keep quiet. My own experience is that the Marxist in some great degree also has taken control or dominate the Western journalist profession and the media.(Like they have done with Greenpeace, WWF and etc.)
In other words they are more on the same gravy train to, what they seem to believe, “make a better World” by removing among many things the political playing ground globally and nationally for capitalism and classic liberalism.
A climate treaty, global government, combined with the Agenda 21 tells it all?
And it’s also in some degree about political correctness among the journalists and critic of UNFCCC policy based science and Agenda 21 seems for me to be tabu?
Bernd Felsche says:
December 30, 2013 at 8:56 pm
What can possibly go wrong?
I guess the danger is the ice pushed by the wind could crush anything, this is why it is not recommended to stay.
There was this older WUWT post which illustrates nicely the power of ice pushed by wind:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/12/is-this-what-the-beginning-of-glaciation-looks-like/
It is strange that this is being spoken of as a ‘rescue’.
Now one is in any danger, or non more than going to sea in a well found vessel.
It is common for vessels to become trapped in ice, if thats where you want to go to then that is highly likely to happen, so you provision for it.
Food, water and fuel will keep you going until the ice melts (strangely every year).
Should the seafarers need to evacuate the vessel due to water ingress, the the other important part of ice exploration, sufficient equipment to survive on the ice is carried and used.
All genuine research trips would expect to be trapped in the ice and plan for the above.
The fact that they only have food for another two weeks tells me it was a holiday voyage.
They do not need to be rescued, just resupply them by airdrop.
Another possible explanation could be that newspapers and media fell for the new group of “Eco-’journalists”?
By doing so enviro and climate “news” are these “Eco-’journalists” turf only. And by doing so the Eco-’journalists and the WWF, Greenpeace etc.. are on the same gravey train and makes it easier to “take” control over the Media and make it into propaganda institutions for the enviro’s with a political Agenda? I think this effectively ended the critique and started the consensus in the Media?