It looks like the “rescued” climate scientists, journalists, and tourists will have to wait on-board the Aurora Australis awhile longer while this episode plays out. There is still a lot of ice ahead according to the webcam on Aurora Australis (seen below) which had been slowed to a crawl, making only 1/4 knot.
![A140030701A[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/a140030701a1.jpg?quality=83)
Press release: 4.30pm AEDT Friday 03 January 2014
Aurora Australis on standby as a precautionary measure
Xue Long notified AMSA at 1pm AEDT this afternoon it has concerns about their ability to move through heavy ice in the area.
The Aurora Australis has been placed on standby by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre Australia (RCC Australia) to remain in open water in the area as a precautionary measure.
The Xue Long has advised RCC Australia that it will attempt to manoeuvre through the ice when tidal conditions are most suitable during the early hours of 4 January 2014.
There is no immediate danger to personnel on board the Xue Long.
www.amsa.gov.au/media
Source: http://www.amsa.gov.au/media/documents/030114UpdateAntartica.pdf
==============================================================
Meanwhile, the beginning of this domino effect has been traced back to a sightseeing expedition by the passengers of the Akademik Shokalskiy that spent too much time getting back on the ship.
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Surprisingly the MSM here have suddenly gone quiet about this whole fiasco, apart from National Radio, If I relied on the newspapers, I would be unaware of what is happening
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/232324/chinese-rescue-vessel-having-trouble-in-ice
Good view of the Chinese and Australian ships from the helicopter from about 1:50 in the video here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/03/second-antarctic-rescue-aurora-australis-on-standby
This tracker: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ shows the XL doing 1.5 knots.
Well at least one of Canada’s national papers has an opinion piece on this fiasco.
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2014/01/02/terence-corcoran-science-of-climate-change-not-on-the-same-course-as-reality/
The Guardian would love you to think it was all over.
Yesterday Alok Jha (@AlokJha on twitter) filed a report about the rescue. The subhead said clearly the crew had been rescued. I have brought the ‘error’ to Alok’s attention. They have had 8 hours to correct it.
It is starting to look less like a typical guardian sub’s mistake than a deliberate attempt to deceive.
Nothing to see here. move along…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/02/antarctic-rescue-shokalskiy-free?CMP=twt_gu
https://twitter.com/omotforest/status/419012170676838401
Wikipedia’s entry for Aurora Australis now includes the Stalinist revisionist history of this incident: “an outbreak of old sea ice”.
1/4 knots? It that the current speed of the drifting sea-ice?
Anyway. Because The Guardian has been visible in this latest AGW-fiasco, allow me to post a related story:
Due to some geographical constraints, Finnish right-wing tends to sympathize leftist ideas. Now imagine the popular left. Move left from there and you find a journal called Kansan Uutiset http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansan_Uutiset. Here is the kicker Kansan Uutiset have now accepted The Guardian as their information source.
Regrettably my own source is currently available in Finnish only http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/Kansan+Uutiset+alkaa+julkaista+The+Guardianin+aineistoa/a1388715592390. The good news is that at least Helsinki Times will think twice before quoting the Guardian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsingin_Sanomat.
Looks like a Charlie Foxtrot in progress.
Item from tvnz on the latest here:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/ship-involved-in-antarctic-rescue-faces-trouble-5790285?ref=rss
Note what it says about who pays and which country would conduct the enquiry.
Update, the Chinese ship is stuck.
only one thing left now…a hat trick
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-03/chinese-icebreaker-stuck-after-helping-with-ship-rescue/5184210?section=australianetworknews
While I am pleased that the crew of the MV Akademik has been in a sense ‘rescued’ and no longer must endure the company of the Eco-tourists I find this whole saga exhausting…albeit still hilarious.
xanonymousblog says:
January 3, 2014 at 12:58 am
Update, the Chinese ship is stuck.
only one thing left now…a hat trick
That would be a Charlie Foxtrot Tango.
“Jason Mundy from the Antarctic Division hopes the Russian ship’s insurers will foot the bill for the rescue.”
I am sure he does hope that …. but it doesn’t mean that the Russian ship’s insurers won’t then come after the Antarctic Division for costs.
I trust Turney’ has contacted a good lawyer. His idiocy will cost millions, and it is all down to the leader of the expedition to carry the can. I guess we will hear very little from the BBC, and the Gusrdian will find it hard to explain the cock up it covered.
Lew Skannen says:
January 3, 2014 at 1:29 am
“Jason Mundy from the Antarctic Division hopes the Russian ship’s insurers will foot the bill for the rescue.”
================
If they can show reckless behaviour they won’t. I’m laying in lots of popcorn.
In other news, the Guardian have updated their page to ‘passengers’ rather than ‘crew.’
The BBC’s main mid-day radio news programme yesterday, the World at One, found an “expert” to comment on this story. She was Sara Wheeler, a graduate in Classics and Modern Languages who is a travel writer who has spent seven months at the South Pole and written about the Arctic and Antarctic. According to her, the ice which trapped the ship was there because global warming had caused ice to “drop off” glaciers and surround the ship. “Nobody knew glacier ice was going to drop off and surround the ship at that time.” Her view was not challenged by the BBC interviewer. Interesting!
theres also the not small detail of the original cargo and a base that desperately need their supplies n fuel..soo, after aurora helps out the chinese ship thats now in trouble thanks to the ship of fools, or waits to be on hand to assist after the american ships gets there..Id reckon the responsible people who caused all this should be made to stay while aurora completes the entire prior critical supply run.
and I sure hope the russian ships insurers hit the uni NSW insurers for ALL the costs and damage incurred.if it means a certain idiot becomes unemployed and the climatecon dept shuts to recover some costs..all to the good!
I’d guess the expedition-ists aren’t happy with the prospect of delaying their own rescue to assist others…uugh…
Regarding ship insurance, it is not compulsory for shipowners to carry any insurance – for example Blue Funnel Line never insured any of their ships – but sometimes there is a clause in the charter party making the charterers responsible for taking out insurance.
I really, really hope that is the case in this instance, if the charterer was the Prof; but most likely the charterers will be his employers, i.e. at the end of the day the Aussie taxpayer.
Of course if there isn’t any insurance then the shipowner will just go bankrupt and resurface with a new name.
My thoughts exactly. Imagine what it would be like to be stuck with them for a month, let alone having to over-winter. Heaven forbid. Oh my, my. Thoughts of axe-murder zombie flicks. Musn’t go there…….
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-03/chinese-icebreaker-stuck-after-helping-with-ship-rescue/5184210?section=australianetworknews
“Jason Mundy from the Antarctic Division hopes the Russian ship’s insurers will foot the bill for the rescue.”
I hope the ships owners in turn sues the passengers who would not get back to the ship in time.
This video made me feel sick:-
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-25/15-million-australian-expedition-to-antarctica/5116158
Shows these people getting ready for their high carbon “adventure” and the propaganda used to back them up. Fact of the matter is the fact people are already doing their job at Mawson Bay.
This guy and his acolytes were nothing but baggage, end to end.
Stuck with a Australian Green Senator would be worse than torture under The Inquisition. Another vodka please.
“The cost of the rescue will largely fall to the ships involved – the Aurora Australis and Xue Long – and insurance”
from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/03/second-antarctic-rescue-aurora-australis-on-standby
This helps put it all into perspective:
“Of course if there isn’t any insurance then the shipowner will just go bankrupt and resurface with a new name.”
Since the shipowner in this case is the Russian Government this is unlikely. It is also highly unlikely that they will pay anything if the whole thing was due to negligence by the charterers.