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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Warren in New Zealand says:
“Having their own supply run to McMurdo disrupted”
Aurora Australis has nothing to do with McMurdo which is an American base, which is due for resupply by Polar Star.
Aurora was resupplying Casey station and still has about a third of those supplies onboard. Once Snow Dragon is freed she will either have to rush back to Casey, and unload those supplies, which will certainly take several days, or head directly back to Hobart, a trip that takes slightly more than a week.
She was due there on Jan. 8 to load supplies for Mawson and Davis, then head south again to resupply/relieve those stations, then back to Casey to collect equipment and personnel to be returned to Australia. Due back in Hobart early in March.
Then unload, and load supplies for the Macquarie Island base, leave on March 5, to start unloading on Macquarie on March 8, and finally back to Hobart on March 19.
Even though there are fairly large margins in the original schedule this is probably impossible now, and some difficult choices will have to be made. It might seem that the Macquarie resupply could easily be postponed since Macquarie Island is ice-free the year around. However there is no port and no airstrip there, and everything has to come ashore across the aptly named “Landing Beach” which can be sticky even in summer (been there, done that).
^^ Apologies, for some reason I keep thinking of McMurdo instead of Casey.
Change the original to Casey, my points still stand though 🙂
There is only a small window in the weather there, 2 weeks at least lost in actual science time, as opposed to sightseeing can mean the total loss of a whole seasons work
A. A. has been release from stand by duties by AMSA::
http://www.amsa.gov.au/media/documents/040114_MediaRelease_AuroraAustralisreleasedfromtasking.pdf
Doug Huffman says:
January 3, 2014 at 11:44 am
—————————————————-
I agree towing a nuclear ice-breaker through tropical oceans from one hemisphere to another would be prohibitive in the sense that most alternatives would be cheaper – even possibly evacuation by Harrier Jet.
However, anything is possible. The Costa Concordia salvage operation will be the largest in history. That ship is roughly 4-5 times heavier than the Russian nuclear ice-breaker and once up righted will be towed to its home port of Genoa a few hundred kilometers away. If the US feels the need to have a nuclear powered ice-breaker in the Antarctic it will place one there.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/costa-concordia-salvage-operation-slated-to-be-the-largest-in-history/article7270508/
Peter Miller says:
January 3, 2014 at 2:30 am
This helps put it all into perspective:
==============
ROFLMAO
Some more ice history:
In January, 1960, a small icebreaker of the 5th Soviet Antarctic Expedition went easily through fairly open pack ice toward the coastal station Mirnyy. On Jan. 7 it reached the edge of thick land-fast ice about 18 kilometer from the shore and had to wait for the arrival of a larger ship. It moored to the ice, but strong offshore winds and ice pressure forced it to cast off and retreat for a while. The stronger icebreaker arrived on Jan. 15 and began cutting through to the station. It arrived there on Jan. 21 and then escorted the other ship through the passage to start major off-loading of supplies. Meanwhile, the ice was strong enough to support heavy diesel tractors (with extra-wide tracks) pulling heavily-laden sleds, and the landing and take-off of aircraft.
The following year the re-supply ships didn’t reach the station until the end of January. Wind was a major factor both years.
“Steve from Rockwood says:
January 3, 2014 at 2:10 pm
Yet another example of climate scientists “risking their lives for our planet”. ”
Yeah, I think they would much rather have it as us risking our lives for their planet….
(the risk already exists, what with skyrocketing energy prices, knuckleheaded
“carbon taxes” [idiots don’t even know their gas from a coal in the ground…])..
“Another lump of coal, please” is probably being said in a lot more places than
just Bob Cratchit’s office….
hey Warren in New Zealand,
re low level coverage in NZ media, I thought this surprising given that JoNova published lists of everyone onboard, including NZ Journalist Veronika Meduna. I emailed RadioNZ and the Herald asking if she was aboard awaiting rescue. Both replied that she and the Landcare scientists had been aboard on Leg 1 but were not currently on board. Quite interesting but as yet untold part of the story.
http://joannenova.com.au/2013/12/antarctic-ice-swallows-boat-media-spin/
Susan Fraser –
yes, Leg One & Leg Two caused some confusion, but only because the Expedition operators, leaders & the MSM did not see fit – & still have not seen fit – to provide the public with a list of who was on board. were they nervous the public would realise this is the way political science & the MSM conspire to create the CAGW narrative?
Steve from Rockwood says:
January 3, 2014 at 11:35 am
Surely you could tow a nuclear powered ice-breaker from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. This is the US Navy not NASA.
============================
Let us ponder for a moment that the US navy has many Boomer submarines as well as attack submarines which operate world wide and use the same nuclear technology. There is no need to two anything these ships have the ability to adapt to any surface temperature of water.
One must consider the operational capacity of such ships being able to go world wide and on short notice.
WIki is very wrong in its assessment of these ships and their range..
At any rate, the Polar Star is on its way! Probably still at least a week until arrival.
Steve from Rockwood says: January 3, 2014 at 3:16 pm “If the US feels the need to have a nuclear powered ice-breaker in the Antarctic it will place one there.”
The United States of America and its Navy do not command a nuclear powered ice-breaker. The USN is the maritime arm of the US military social-justice enforcers and is fully overwhelmed trying to incorporate incompetents into its command structure.