This will be a top “sticky” post for awhile since interest is high – new stories will appear below this one – Anthony
UPDATE: Josh channels the boat people
UPDATE2: Another irony is discovered, this one doubly deep. See update 2 below.
UPDATE4: AMSA: Helicopter rescue of Akademik Shokalskiy likely to commence shortly
(It’s off again, then now its on again, with report the helicopter has landed)
UPDATE5: All the passengers (tourists and scientists) are off the ship
UPDATE6: Tough questions need to be asked
UPDATE7: Trouble on the rescue ship – reaching open water not so easy
As we reported previously on WUWT here and here, the saga of the “climate scientists/tourists trapped in ice” continues to fascinate many. Now a second ship has given up on rescue, after the Chinese ship “Snow Dragon” gave up two days ago. The Aurora Australis has abandoned rescue of the trapped Russian “research”vessel in Antarctica and a helicopter evacuation in now being ordered. This episode has taken on a heightened comedic fiasco-like quality.
Now, with such a fantastic failure in full world view, questions are going to start being asked. For example, with advanced tools at their disposal (that Mawson never had) such as near real-time satellite imaging of Antarctic sea ice, GPS navigation, on-board Internet, radar, and satellite communications, one wonders how these folks managed to get themselves stuck at all. Was it simple incompetence of ignoring the signs and data at their disposal combined with “full steam ahead” fever? Even the captain of the Aurora Australis had the good sense to turn back knowing he’d reached the limits of the ship on his rescue attempt. Or, was it some sort of publicity stunt to draw attention? If it was the latter, it has backfired mightily.
One might argue that with photos like the one below, this whole “Spirit of Mawson” research expedition, is little more than a media stunt.
Source: [ http://twitter.com/GdnAntarctica/status/412977161323036672 ]
Even after the ship was trapped, these reporters still had a party like atmosphere going on:
Source: [ http://twitter.com/GdnAntarctica/status/416881634273525761/photo/1 ]
Yesterday, Andrew Revkin tweeted something that I agreed with, especially since so many of the people trapped in the ice on the ship seem to have a nonchalant, almost partly-like atmosphere going on.
Scientist on trapped Antarctic ship: "Fantastic-I love it when the ice wins & we don't." http://t.co/UsxA2tiV2i What about rescue risk/cost?
— Andrew Revkin 🌎 ✍🏼 🪕 ☮️ (@Revkin) December 29, 2013
Yes, the cost and risk is significant. These folks trapped on-board don’t seem to be cognizant of that issue, following the #spiritofmawson Twitter feed, it’s like watching reports (with pictures and video) from a high school class party.
And here’s the kicker. Even the public saw through the charade at the beginning. Trying to get crowd funding from the public for this trip failed miserably as this Indigogo campaign shows:
Source: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-us-return-to-mawson-s-antarctic-hut-the-home-of-the-blizzard
Maybe it had to do with the ridiculous image of Professor Chris Turney in full cold weather gear standing in the midst of a tropical forest.
Right after the ship got stuck and there was a realization that the world was watching, one scientist on-board, Dr. Chris Fogwill, of the University of New South Wales, decided that it would be an opportune time to hit the public for money again:
Source: http://www.spiritofmawson.com/
And again, the public has seen through this, and today, the campaign remains stuck at $1000 with just a few donors. People are realizing that there’s no real science being done on this trip, and that it seems to be little more than a chartered party boat for Antarctic enthusiasts and media.
Now, with the ship to be evacuated via helicopter, will the Akademik Shokalskiy join the list of recent ships that have been sunk in Antarctic waters?
Ships that have sunk in Antarctic waters in recent years (h/t to David Archibald)
The Brazilian yacht “Endless Sea” sank in Maxwell Bay, Ardley Cove on Saturday 7th April, 2012. It was used for “scientific and educational expeditions”.
The sunken remains of the 76-ft Mar Sem Fin, aka “Endless Sea”, which sunk on April 7, 2012, lies at a depth of about 9 meters (30 ft) in Ardley Cove, Antarctica.
In November 2007, the Linblad Explorer hit sea ice and sank.
In April 2013, the Chinese factory fishing ship Kai Xin caught fire and sank near Bransfield Strait at the Antarctic Peninsula.
And there are others, these are just a few recent ones.
With so much concern for the pristine environment of Antarctica, one wonders how much environmental damage these sinkings are doing.
And when the trip is nothing more than a party for your friends and media, disguised as a “scientific expedition”, one wonders if there shouldn’t be some moratorium on such trips.
Richard Tol summed it all up nicely with one sentence:
There has been a strong and statistically significant upward trend in climate-change-related public-relations disasters #spiritofmawson
— Richard Tol (@RichardTol) December 30, 2013
UPDATE:
The #spiritofmawson hashtag is now getting competition from the hashtag #ClitanicDisaster in honor of the trapped climate scientists that the MSM won’t mention as being climate scientists.
========================================================
UPDATE 2:
reader Aphan writes on 2013/12/31 at 7:16 pm
I don’t know if anyone was posted this yet, but the IRONY just gobsmacked me.
The British “explorers” on board the MV Explorer who were “commemorating the Spirit of Shackleton” found themselves repeating HIS adventure when their ship struck a piece of submerged ice and then SANK in the Antarctic in November of 2007! None of the passengers or crew were lost. But HOW AMAZING is it that both the “Spirit of Mawson” trip AND the “Spirit of Shackleton” cruise trips ended in disaster from sea ice?????
http://www.jamescairdsociety.com/shackleton-news-104519.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/news/explorer-sinks-antarctica.html
I mean…come on. What are the odds?
============================================================
Related articles
- Saving the Antarctic scientists, er media, er, activists, er tourists trapped by sea ice (wattsupwiththat.com)
- Antarctic rescue mission fails to reach trapped ship (theguardian.com)
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Rather arrogant for these folks to compare themselves to Douglas Mawson, IMO. Mawson was apparently a rugged guy, but he lost two crew members and nearly died himself. I guess if no one dies in this fiasco, it proves “global warming”. “Global Warming is real and dangerous.” Okay, scratch “dangerous”. “Global Warming is real and a lifesaver!” How’s thar?
This whole laughable affair creates the perfect visual image for the whole AGW movement. A bread crumb trail of icebreakers that can be followed right to the AGW research ship that was looking for evidence of global warming ice loss…
One picture is worth a thousand words.
Has anyone used the joke that they must have been predicting the weather and ice conditions using models rather than real world data? Or that Michael Mann was their forecaster?
On board is a “climate scientist” named – wait for this – Grant Hose!
Really!
From Izvestiya (my translation)
Hope still remains for saving (salvaging) of the Russian ship. American icebreaker “Polar Star” is sailing from Seattle to the Ross Sea, it will be able to reach the “Akademik Shokalski” in about 8-9 days.
( ? ! )
Richard Tol @RichardTol
There has been a strong and statistically significant upward trend in climate-change-related public-relations disasters #spiritofmawson+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Experienced, licensed sailors/captains should not partake in these stunts….I hope all turns out ok but I won’t be surprised if there are injuries and loss of life in the rescue.
There is a wonderful book by Ian McEwan that captures this type of “humorous misadventure” of scientists/activists trying to save the world. It’s called “Solar” and it’s loaded with laugh-out-loud scenes reminiscent of this true life story.
Hopefully they’ll be able to get the passengers of Akademik Shokalskiy to safety.
It’s going to be easy predicting the crisis cruise of 2014. Sea-level rise in the Maldives. What could go wrong on a tropical island?
‘Scientist on trapped Antarctic ship: “Fantastic-I love it when the ice wins & we don’t.” ‘
This says it all. This solitary quote nicely summarizes everything that’s wrong with Al Gore and his global warming crowd. Does it get any more clear that these cretins hate mankind and all of mankind’s heroic accomplishments? They are not worthy of the technology that will rescue them, the heroic men who invented it, or the brave men who will use it to save their lives. They are pathetic fools.
climatereason says: December 30, 2013 at 11:24 am
Anthony, How about WUWT offering a donation towards their rescue?
tonyb
+++++++++++++++++++
Why? Australian search/rescue will take care of it….ground zero until the recent election for climate delusion…..
The farce continues . . . but will Bloody Mess or the Womann named Sue get it? Methinks not.
Wonderful timing, I’m about 75% through reading The Last Place on Earth which compares the race to the South Pole by Amundsen, a savvy polar-experienced Norwegian, with the bungling Scott. A must read book and sooo entertaining to have this happening at the same time.
One message that this little crew has sent loudly and clearly is that they are remarkably confused about the value of things, including their own lives and the lives of those attempting to rescue them.
@tonyb – oh please! Let AL-GORE pay for their rescue of their farce of a stunt, I’m getting stuck with their bills already through increases of our incredibly expensive hydro bills. And the wankers/suppliers of our hydro here in Ontario, Can.. are still strongly shilling for more useless turbines and solar power as well as a plan to increase our costs an additional 45% in the next few years!! Do you not understand that our hydro = mtg/rent costs per month already?? It’s going to be -26C here at nights this week… and you want us to give them more of our money?? Pfft!
If more modern communication systems break down, they can always resort to writing an SOS message in the snow in letters of gold.
Does it get any more clear that these cretins hate mankind and all of mankind’s heroic accomplishments?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Perhaps in a next life I will be reincarnated not as a killer virus but a harsh sea and ice in the southern ocean that traps and kills global warming propagandists…….
vukcevic suggests: “… don’t go for an outdoor pee.”
Indeed, at those temperatures more shortcomings than just in the field of climatology would be revealed…
This one is still my all time favourite crusading activist gong show…..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8034027.stm
And the band “continued to play as the crew loaded the lifeboats.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musicians_of_the_RMS_Titanic
Seems there was a “party” attitude of the ‘upper class’ onboard the Titanic as well.
The background:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-25/15-million-australian-expedition-to-antarctica/5116158
MinB Scott was hardly a bungler.
This Guardian article hints the ship might not get out, for years: “… caught in the formation of a new area of fast ice, which could stay in place for several years.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/30/antarctic-rescue-mission-fails
In the same position, I would wait until the losing was over before saying that.
This could end poorly. The ship is being squeezed by the ice, and looks to be beginning to list to port (extra starboard side pressure would push it up and caise the post list.) Ice reinforced vessel usually means the bow area against ice flows while under way, not the flanks against a situation like this. Much will now depend on wind and sub ice sea current conditions. Neither condition sounds very good, if two breakers have had to turn back due to ice thickness, wind, and visibility problems as has been reported.
See the Shark – Jump -Wheee!