UPDATE: So much for that…
Sea ice conditions are now likely to delay today’s planned rescue of passengers from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy. http://t.co/snGYZnqmNM
— AMSA News (@AMSA_News) January 2, 2014
And now it is apparently on again
AMSA is awaiting confirmation that the Antarctica rescue operation has begun.
— AMSA News (@AMSA_News) January 2, 2014
See video below.
Aurora Australis has advised AMSA that the 52 passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy are now on board.
— AMSA News (@AMSA_News) January 2, 2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_13rQBXKa0A
7.30am AEDT: 2nd January 2014
Rescue operations likely to commence shortly in Antarctica
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia) was advised this morning by the MV Akademik Shokalskiy that weather conditions have improved in the area and rescue operations are likely to commence shortly by helicopter.
Wind in the area is now down to 10 knots and visibility has improved. Weather conditions are expected to remain favourable over the next 36 hours.
The helicopter on board the Chinese flagged vessel Xue Long will 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.
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 will be rescued by helicopter in groups of 12 and will be initially transported to the Xue Long. The rescue is expected to be undertaken in a total of seven flights. The first five flights will rescue passengers and the remaining two flights will transfer luggage and equipment.
Each return flight is expected to take about 45 minutes. The journey will cover a distance of about 12 nautical miles between the MV Akademik Shokalskiy and the Xue Long. The helicopter component of the rescue operation is expected to take at least five hours dependent on weather conditions.
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. The journey between the Xue Long and the Aurora Australis is a distance of about two nautical miles.
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.
Media Note: Media are advised to keep an eye on AMSA’s Twitter feed @AMSA_News for the latest information relating to this rescue. Details for facilitating audio grabs and vision will be issued in due course.
Click to access 02012014AkademikShokalskiyUpdate9_Media_Release.pdf
I have no sympathy whatever for pseudoscientist Chris Turley or his credulous global warming groupies, er tourists. All the CAGW CO2 crap for last couple of decades has cost the world’s taxpayers trillions of dollars, subverted real scientific inquiry, turned climatology into religion, etc. The people who started all this and who screamed the loudest are as corrupt as any Wall Street bankster. They don’t care about science. They are sociopaths with an agenda entirely motivated by greed and the hunger for power. I hope their noses freeze off.
I hope the crew arrives safely and without injury in their home port, wherever that is.
From the amsa update 10.. ” The preferred and safest option at this stage is to ultimately transfer passengers onto A Australis.”
This is one time above others that a hovercraft is called for.
(CNN) — [Breaking news alert, 9:14 p.m. ET, 1/1/14]
“It is now likely the rescue will not go ahead today,” the maritime agency said in a written statement.
Looks like the rescue attempt is being delayed as if recent press. However, it’s a good thing the Turney crew are doing things (which are not science) to keep spirits up. /sarc.
Quote from CNN:
Turney has said there are regular briefings on the status of rescue attempts, and in the meantime, people are doing what they can to keep busy. That includes yoga and Spanish classes, Jha and Turney said.
The group even managed to ring in 2014 with good cheer.
“We’re the A, A, E who have traveled far, having fun doing science in Antarctica!” a dozen or so of them sang in a video posted on YouTube. “Lots of snow and lots of ice, lots of penguins, which are very, very nice!
“Really good food and company, but a bloody great shame we are still stuck here! Ice cold, cha cha cha! Ice cold, cha cha cha!”
Mary Wilbur,
On that sort of thing, back in the day, we photo’ed some tank tracts out west of Ka Shan Marine Camp and the Lang Viegh Special Forces Camp near by , so , we took the photos to the LBJ progressive Generals and they said from on high,,”Those are earth moving equipment tracks”/
Some days later the Russian amph tanks where spining on top of the bunkers of the Lang Viegh Camp trying to wipe out the whole of the guys there.
So, this Gen. Cushman former CIA type sort of a PROG new age CO2 type would not send any one from the Marine base at Ka Shan to the aid of the guys under the tanks.
That is why I have some idea why your so pissed.
@ur momisugly Mario Lento — thanks for the update. Spanish?! So they can speak to the natives, no doubt. “Hola! uh, uh, como se dice ‘penguin’ en espanol?… uh, penguins!… uh…. Como estas, er, I mean, esta, Senores y Senoras… . Donde esta el bano? Do, you, uh, I mean, tiene cervesa?”
*************************************************************************
What a pitiful joke those AGW people are. Not a laughing matter for that crew, though. THEY are the ones I am really sorry for. They are just doing their job. BTW, re: “abandon ship,” I’m not an expert, but, IIRC, that means EVERY soul on board, with the captain last to leave. I hope that captain gives the “Abandon Ship” order NOW and they ALL get off. Let the ship fend for herself. Err on the side of preserving the health and life of the crew. I suppose the Communists (the ones who are “more equal than others”) don’t think like that about their serfs, though, do they? Yeah, socialism is really neat.
Dear F.O.B., Danger Close,
I am so sorry that you had to endure such treachery. That was horrible. You will never get over that, will you — you just forget about it for awhile. Try to think of all the good things that are happening now in your life (wife? dog? kids? grandchildren? etc…). I hope that you can find enough peace and joy to override what those traitors back in Wash., D. C. did. You guys had them on the run; we would have won, but, they pulled you out before you could finish the job. You did your best; you did everything you could have done.
THANK YOU, SO MUCH, FOR SERVING our country.
With deep sympathy and heartfelt gratitude,
Janice
Two flight for.. luggage? Seriously?
These people are imbeciles. Something very bad is going to come of this due to their complete lack of respect for the situation they put themselves in.
Curiouser and curiouser , so should not this have been apparent from the start ? does that mean that the Chinese vessel should meet the Australis in open water ? would this mean an increased helicopter flight ?
This is getting very complicated.
M Courtney says:
January 1, 2014 at 2:22 pm
Expensive, dangerous and should never have been necessary.
But it is necessary. So let’s just be quiet and wait and pray that things do go well.
The jokes won’t be funny if this goes South.
Actually, it’s called natural selection. You do stupid and don’t survive…well…less idiots wanderlusting the planet. …and they are already south. 🙂
It seems that this ‘Rescue’ Is not going to plan.Xue Long apparently stuck requesting assistance and Aurora Australis trying but failing to reach It. how long will It be before ‘Aurora Australis’ requests assistance?
just up from Phillips on board the Aurora Australis:
2 Jan: SMH: Nicky Phillips: Helicopter rescue delayed as second ship trapped in ice
Plans to rescue 52 passengers trapped on the stricken Russian research ship Akademik Shokalskiy have been thrown into disarray after the Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long itself became stuck in pack ice, west of the Mertz Glacier…
Both the Xue Long and the Aurora need to be in open water to conduct the barge operation…
The Aurora is now drifting to the north-west with the surrounding pack ice, which moves with the wind and, to some extent, the current.
Since 7am, it has moved more than half a nautical mile to the north-west, thwarting ice-breaking attempts in the opposite direction….
It is unlikely the Aurora will attempt to reach the Xue Long, which is on the other side of a pack fault line and so drifting in another direction.
The ship’s captain Murray Doyle and voyage leader Leanne Millhouse, from the Australian Antarctic Division, are now weighing up alternative rescue plans.
The weather is clear with good visibility and a wind speed of about 22 knots…
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/helicopter-rescue-delayed-as-second-ship-trapped-in-ice-20140102-306yj.html
@ur momisugly Highflight 56433 (I’m praying for you both as you mourn and, also, re: the next chapter you mentioned a month ago or so; any likely prospects (smile) — re: the new Mrs. Highflight? — well, everyone, he TOLD us he was going to, so, I thought it would be okay to ask) Take care … up there. Keep us posted! Janice
Mary Wilbur says:
January 1, 2014 at 6:45 pm
Good call. Clear thinking.
note Phillips’ piece is, once again, in the Travel Section!
What’s amazing is the press release sites SEA ICE, but all the news and Twitter reports site WEATHER as the problem. Again there is too much ice, but they are reporting this as a weather problem, a lie of ommission.
Apparently, the issue is:
– Chinese helicopter to be used
– Too heavy to land on the Australian icebreaker
– Aussie icebreaker has barge to land the helicopter on then transfer the pax to the ship
– Ice preventing getting the barge to the Aussie ship
Again it’s an ICE problem. Too much ICE. They just can’t accept that and won’t report it.
Fox news has it as a headliner–the chopper airlift has been delayed.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/01/52-passengers-trapped-in-icebound-ship-in-antarctica-to-be-rescued-by/
Yes, Pat! The SMH certainly has much better photos with their travel articles than The Seattle Times. 😉
Also, earlier today I noticed the Huffington Puffington Post had an AAE article in their Politics section, not the Green section. There couldn’t be an effort to “bury” this inconvienent truth, could there?
“… it’s an ICE problem. Too much ICE.” (Psalmon)
Yup. That bore repeating with emphasis!
Another delay? I’m sure “Turney’s Tour of Shame” will be worth the wait..
First the air lift to the Snow Dragon, where all the Chinese get to say how thrilled they were to waste their summer research time saving pseudo scientists and presstitutes.
Then by barge to the Aurora Australis to hear what the Australians think of them and see all the scientific equipment still in the hold that would be at Casey base if not for their idiocy.
Then shipped back to the Australian base to meet all the happy scientists whose work has been compromised by by the Aurora Australis having to sail off after them with research equipment still on board.
For some reason I don’t think the BBC or the Guardian will be reporting much at all from Turney’s Tour of Shame.
Or they figure there’s a real risk of the ship being abandoned or going down.
They should have known the ‘Ice’ is bad in mega doses.
In the icy grip of fear that global warming is claptrap
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/in-the-icy-grip-of-fear-that-global-warming-is-claptrap/story-fni0cwl5-1226793282194
When everyone is laughing at you, Professor Turney, it’s not because you’re a comedian. The end has finally arrived for AGW/CC/carbon pollution/IPCC and every other passenger fare on the gravy train.
What’s to become of the child graduates in climate change propaganda, aka the MSM? A new career in advertising? (I shouldn’t have said that, but couldn’t resist. Advertising, myself having been there in previous times, is a morally superior career choice compared to what these shills have been involved in. Otherwise politics will be the next route to the taxpayer’s pocket.)
The Sydney Morning Herald has a photo taken from the bows of the Australis showing the Chinese ship stuck fast in pack ice and nothing but pack ice between the two ships. Scrub the use of the barge…… The whole exercise is beginning to move from the farcical to the grotesque as plans start to fail as they come into contact with reality. It looks like what started out as an inconvenience could rapidly become a life-threatening situation. Turvey took his children along for the ride, I wonder how he feels about that decision right now? That nuke-powered US ice-breaker better not be delayed en route.
As for the penguin-counter (via hearsay), what was wrong with high-powered binoculars? Birdwatchers use them all the time, and penguins are birds. btw, disobeying the direct order of a ship’s master is an offence resulting in close confinement, which the skipper should have enforced, as it has placed his vessel and crew under direct threat. Ship captains are kings at sea.