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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Yes, running low on the passengers’ fave distilled spirits and having to re-watch the same DVDs spells disaster for any cruise director ..
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All this trip to the Antarctic demonstrates is the mentality of those involved in the promotion of the Climate Change (Global Warming). They are in a dangerous position yet do not realise it. How many gallons of fuel has been used in this trip? Answer: heaps but that doesn’t matter!.
Video footage of the Aurora Australis ice-breaker trying to make break through the ice. Didn’t take long to figure out the ice was too thick.
From the Sydney Morning Herald.
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/aurora-australis-abandons-attempt-to-save-akademik-shokalskiy-in-antarctica-20131230-302na.html
What is the freezing point of Vodka? Drinking it at that temperature is another thing, of course …
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_freezing_point_of_vodka?#slide=1
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To be serious for a change, I would like to say I hope nobody is injured or killed in this avoidable fiasco.
I think they have vastly underestimated the real danger they are in. If the ship is crushed by ice are they equipped to survive on the ice and for how long?
Helicopter rescue in this location is extremely risky for the casualties and even more so for the rescue crew who will have to make a number of trips – probably in conditions beyond the specification of the helicopter and impossible if the weather closes in.
Yes, it is ironic and funny but I can see tragedy looming soon, I hope I am wrong and they get out safely.
Yes, we can joke about the situation, but not wish harm. Can I suggest we all take care with our comments on this one (I include myself).
So, no assets any where near to save Amb. Stevens and the C.I.A. guys in Bengazie.
So, the Polar Snow job ice breaker is on the way already under orders from King Obama another true tax and spend Climate Chage , EPA bossman.
Safe bet the msm will not ask their king any questions on the problem of the ice being thick as he tells U.S. to send our tax money (lives) to him for the CO2 fear problem.
It is my considered opinion we sane ones will have to take control of our on ship “U.S.A.” aka take the helm as for sure these marxist mad cows will take U.S. all to an ice bound state with no food or supplies to live on with.
They are a clear and present danger to themselves and the rest of mankind.
Only fate can help them now, and our prayers.
ps,
The sun, the wind, the cold, the ice do not know they exist.
They have drawn a pair of two’s.
Fate has 4 Aces with a King of spades to spare.
Thus they own this, the ones who chose this path of known ice and cold.
Personal Responsibility is real.
Yes, it would be good for them to get out of this and never live it down, but I would like to see them run out of alcohol and coffee and be down to dry food reserves – something to pick them up and shake them because no one else and nothing else is slapping them upside the head.
Apart from the crew itself, these people are children living dangerously with no adult supervision, and they will play up again and again and again until they bump up against something unforgiving. They treat this as a joke with no thought for cost or inconvenience to anyone else.
Pay for it? Them? Do you really think so? They’ll go back home and laugh about how much fun it was to ride in the helicopter.
Is good mother Earth the only one to show backbone?
As I recall the freezing point of muscadine wine is a bit below zero. I always wanted some Duplin Carolina Red popsicles, then I keep forgetting about it in winter. Muscadine wine & persimmon beer absolutely won’t cause memory loss…. but I mis-remember why…
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.
__________________________________________
They are stuck for the same reason that london Heathrow had to close due to snow – they believed their own propaganda.
With Heathrow, no manager could justify buying new snow-clearing equipment, when the BBC said the climate would warm by 6 degrees in 15 years. likewise, the scientist convinced the crew that the ice just had to be melting and rotten. So Heathrow got caught in a blizzard, and the ship got stuck. Propaganda, is a very dangerous thing, because people start living in a parallel universe.
Incidentally, Sky and BBC reported the ship being stuck, but did not mention that it was on a Climate Research mission. They rather implied that is was merely a holiday cruise. That, is the level of propaganda we are still living under.
Ralph
They went down there to increase awareness of climate change. After years of obsession on the Arctic, they have finally broken the conspiracy of silence on what is happening at the other end of the planet.
No matter how they try to spin it, they’re going to look pretty stupid if they claim they got stuck in ice so thick that ice breakers turned back, but that this is due to ‘global warming’.
Whenever I explain to anyone that Antarctic ice is growing they look at me in amazement and ask me to repeat it to make sure I said what they thought they heard.
They’ve probably brought more attention in one week to the real state of climate in the Antarctic, than WUWT has done in two years.
The AAE mission has already attained it’s objective of increasing awareness of climate change.
Good on ’em.
The agitators are expendable; thousands like them have been bred at journalism school and climate change courses at universities.
I hope, though, that the sailors get through unscathed. I am also optimistic that they know best about the dangers.
Questions:
Did they (ship/party goers) purchase carbon credits/offsets prior to this incident?
How much fuel and hydraulic oil does the ship hold? I assume that it is not wind powered.
How much sewage does this vessel hold and is it discharged at sea?
Although this is a Russian flagged vessel, who are the real owners and in what port does it typically reside?
Does this expedition have a name?
How about:
“Icecapades”
(No. Probably a copy-write thing.)
“For Whom the Swell Froze”
“To There And Not Back Again, An Alarmist Tale”
“The Longest Day”
“Ice-Nado!”
No, no. no!
I’ve been to the Grauniad website and the reason the ice sneaked up on them is that it fell off the landmass.
You see the missing heat is attracted to the Antarctic landmass and that is causing the icecap to flow into the Ocean.
Not got why that happens, yet – but it I’m told it’s true.
My worry is how did the Captain fall for that sneaky icecap’s trick? Was he paid by Big Oil?
This expedition to boldly go where no man has gone (before the 1900s) was funded by the Australian Government and they are all evil, coal-mongering empiricists, don’t you know.
Perhaps they should leaf through Shackelton’s story of the loss of the Endurance, and how he saved his crew dragging long boats across the ice and sailing across stormy antarctic seas to South Georgia? In other words,
Save yourselves!!!
I suspect one aspect of the “good morale” and “party on” YouTube postings are to try to delude themselves into not facing the hazards of their situation. And likely also reassure the folks at home that things are fine, that it’s just an inconvenience.
If they’re not going to be realistic, I’m not sure we need be so ourselves. However, it’s worth anticipating the events the boat people have not.
Suppose the wind shifts and the ice begins to break up, there was excitement a couple days ago when some cracks appeared in the ice. However, would this lead to kilometer size chunks of ice running into each other – and the boat?
I have no experience with trapped boats, but I bet this a real concern and one reason why the so want ice breaker assistance to get out of there.
With software companies, there’s a term called “eating your own dog food” which means that you use your own products. This is normally done to promote the quality of your products. Looks like when alarmists eat their own dog food, it can cost them their lives and the lives of others trying to rescue them. Yet, they seem to be oblivious to the dangers that they represent. I hope everyone makes it back, but why do they have to seem so oblivious to what is going on around them? Oh wait, I think I just answered my own question.
JohnWho says: December 30, 2013 at 1:04 pm
Seriously, by all accounts, isn’t the Antarctic gaining ice?
Why go there to show a loss of ice?
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Again, they might not have known this. the propaganda is so great that when i spoke to a professional weatherman, he did NOT know that Antarctic ice has been increasing for years. He believed the propaganda, which said that the ice was in full retreat, and did not read the small-print, which said this retreat was only on the Antarctic Peninsular.
So the whole mission may have been organised upon a complete misunderstanding of reality.
ralph
BBC World News reported 3 rescue ships failed rescue due to poor weather conditions.
No mention they were ice breakers unable to break the ice.
@ur momisugly P Gosselin says:
December 30, 2013 at 11:11 am
Good post…I was going to write up something in those lines but this says it all. This is Spring Break by some who never grew up. They think they’re so cool and hip, when actually they’ve made a mockery of the scientific industry. They took a 50 million dollar vessel and are now on the verge of trashing it like out-of-control brats at a Project X party.
————————
Actually, I think they are trashing their own movement with this stunt gone wrong. They are doing more damage to the AGW meme then they can know at this point. I don’t wish anything bad to happen, but the more chaotic this situation becomes – the better for for its exposure/impact value in torpedoing the AGW cult movement.
Its becoming a internet joke – a global warming research group stuck in an ice field they didn’t believe existed – too funny :o)
I think the real story here is how biased the MSM is. They are utilising every available method to now avoid using the word ‘climate’ in the reports. It is just a ‘Russian ship’ trapped in the ice. Yet the BBC and Guardian have 5 reporters involved (yes wherever there is a BBC ‘climate change’ reporter a Guardian ‘climate change’ reporter is sure to be attached). Here is the media list
http://www.spiritofmawson.com/aae-media/
Who the hell is paying their salaries for this ‘jolly’ for the BBC reporters to be aboard and make every effort to not do their job and report the facts now it has gone wrong and the truth is inconvenient. Questions need to be asked in parliament the bias is so blatant and the licence fee and taxpayer is paying for these liars.
Last attempt to “raise awareness” did not end too well either.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/19/charity-trekker-froze-death-greenland-storm
Philip Goodeve-Docker, 31, was trapped in a tent in 160mph (260km/h) winds and -70C temperatures after the storm struck two days into a 30-day, 400-mile (640km) unsupported trek across the Greenland ice cap in April.
silver ralph says:
December 30, 2013 at 2:57 pm
So the whole mission may have been organised upon a complete misunderstanding of reality.
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This is probably the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard. Not your statement. But the fact that it may actually turn out to be true. Just unbelievable.
Correction, 5 media reporters including BBC and Guardian journalists.