Ship with 52 rescued Akademik Shokalskiy climate scientists and tourists is only able to make 1/4 knot (0.29 mph) in heavy ice towards open water. Latest webcam views show all ice all around the ship and no open water ahead.
More webcam views follow.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority Press release: 8.00am AEDT: 3rd January 2014
Antarctica rescue operation now complete
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia) can confirm that the rescue operation from the Akademik Shokalskiy in Antarctica has been completed.
RCC Australia was notified at 6.15pm AEDT yesterday evening that the first group of 12 passengers had boarded the helicopter from the Xue Long at around 6pm AEDT. RCC Australia was then notified at 7.30pm AEST that the first 12 passengers had arrived at the Aurora Australis.
Five flights were conducted to take the passengers to the Aurora Australis over a distance of about 14 nautical miles. Four flights were undertaken with 12 people each flight, and the fifth flight rescued four passengers. The helicopter landed on an ice floe adjacent to the Aurora Australis.
At 10.05pm AEDT, AMSA was advised that all 52 passengers had been safely rescued and were on board the Aurora Australis.
Aurora Australis advised AMSA that helicopter operations had been completed at about 10.45pm AEDT and all passengers, luggage and equipment had been transferred.
The Aurora Australis will now start heading towards open water. The ship is currently travelling at a quarter knot in heavy ice towards open water. It will take until late evening to reach open water.
The Aurora Australis will then head towards the Casey base to complete a resupply before heading to Australia. The Aurora Australis is not expected to arrive in Australia until mid-January.
All 22 crew members of the Akademik Shokalskiy remain with the vessel.
RCC Australia has overall coordination of the incident as it is in Australia’s search and rescue region and has regular contact with the vessels involved.
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.
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Other camera views.
Port Camera:
![A140022300C[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/a140022300c1.jpg?quality=83)
Stern camera:
![A140022300B[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/a140022300b1.jpg?quality=83)
Source: http://www.antarctica.gov.au/webcams/aurora
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The Aurora Australis does not yet appear to be in a good place:-
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=VNAA
It seems that everywhere you look, it’s 52 passengers rescued, as though these were poor victims of a cruise line’s poor planning.
Only here on WUWT (and other skeptic (reality) oriented sites) does reality exist with the clear identification of the essential detail, “Ship with 52 rescued Akademik Shokalskiy climate scientists and tourists”
And the Xue Long? Can they make their way out?
Let’s see what happens!
stephen says: January 2, 2014 at 4:08 pm “I believe you can see about 13 nautical miles across water before the curviture of the earth kicks in …”
Bowditch APN V.II, Table 8 Distance of the Horizon explanation, page 5, says distance in miles to the horizon is 1.17 times the square root of the height of eye in feet.
The helicopter cannot land on the Aurora, weight and size is an issue as posted by others.
Frank says:
January 2, 2014 at 4:13 pm
Really now. The posters on this thread seem kind of mean spirited. Some folks get caught in a bit of bad-weather and you get all climatey on them.
+++++++++++
Frank, is that your real name or are you Michele Obama talking about non us liberal US citizens?
R de Haan, with only 22 aboard an emergency evacuation can be done much faster than with almost four times that number.
Plus with fewer aboard the supplied will last longer, as will the space available in the sewage holding tank.
Or maybe they’ve just been dumping their sewage into the ocean… I have no idea.
I must be really stupid, for I continuously forget the correct explanation for how global warming continues to cool this poor planet.
Even more, I fail to see any trace of this warming in global temperature anomalies as published by every official weather/climate observing agency.
It was so easy after 1975 and before 1998; temperatures rose with CO2, those were the days!
Oh, now I remember; the heat has taken to hide undetected in the deep oceans, were it cannot be measured. How clever is that?
—————————-
Zoom in to the track, doesn’t look like a ship in clear water!
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/
I hope the get home soon. Expedition leader Turney is going to need at least one lifetime to fulfil his promise to plant trees to completely offset the CO2 emissions of his expedition
Yeah, they can’t find the heat but at least they found the ice.
So the Chinese saviours are abandoned in the ice?
If so these activists are sure running true to form.
@ur momisugly Frank 4.13 You forgot the sarc.
Wait until 2014 as the disinterested public start to realize just how expensive the CAGW scam has become.
Australia is leading the way, the timing of this Antarctic Fiasco is perfect, for the new Government.
Why keep endangering more and more merchant marines and valuable life saving equipment for a few scientists? Give them dog sleds and a dog team to fight their way back. They will get a more detailed view of the melting ice from global warming.
Oh No! More delays?
But the nearest peanut and banana milkshake could now be weeks away!
How much more sobbing anguish can the Clitanic survivors endure?
Frank says:
January 2, 2014 at 4:13 pm
Really now. The posters on this thread seem kind of mean spirited. Some folks get caught in a bit of bad-weather and you get all climatey on them.
———————————————————————————-
1. The vast majority of posters have commented that they hope everyone returns safely – that is genuine concern and is not mean spirited as you suggest.
2. The irony of the situation is obviously totally lost on you especially given your phrase “a bit of bad weather”.
3. The purpose of the voyage was to show how the Antarctic is being affected by global warming and now even the ice-breakers are stuck in the ice while the world looks on.
Who would have thought a group of climate scientists trying to prove the catastrophe of global warming caused by fossil fuels would be saved by a Chinese ice-breaker and a Russian helicopter. A denier could not have scripted better fiction, only this is real and we are savouring every morsel. Maybe you don’t like the menu (Chris(tmas) Turkey).
Frank says: @ur momisugly January 2, 2014 at 4:13 pm
Really now. The posters on this thread seem kind of mean spirited….
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I hope you just forget the /sarc tag on that statement.
These self-centered prima donnas cost the Australian tax payers millions, disrupted REAL researchers and may, if thing go bad, have sentenced to death 23 people.
Aphan has documented Prof.Chris(tmas) Turkey’s idiotic moves that resulted in this mess. Note that after getting the ship stuck by ignoring the Captain, he does not even bother to mention much less thank the Captian and crew who are still risking their lives trying to salvage the ship.
SEE:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/01/02/now-that-the-ship-of-fools-is-safe-in-antarctica-tough-questions-need-to-be-asked/#comment-1522059
and
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/01/02/now-that-the-ship-of-fools-is-safe-in-antarctica-tough-questions-need-to-be-asked/#comment-1522117
For the direct quotes from the diaries showing Prof.Chris(tmas) Turkey KNEW the conditions were bad days before they got stuck and that the ship was stuck because the ‘Tourists’ took an additional two hours getting back to the ship after the Captain recalled them.
From the way the diary reads it seems the message from the Captain wasn’t even passed on!
So who says the Media are ignoring “climate change” in the reporting of this dbacle?
From the AP:
http://www.nola.com/weather/index.ssf/2014/01/52_passengers_rescued_off_rese.html
Nope, no single weather event can be blamed on climate change (wink wink, nod nod).
Neo says: @ur momisugly January 2, 2014 at 4:10 pm
Has anyone ever considered the damage to the sea ice done by these “ice breakers” ?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yes, I have often wondered just how much of the decrease in Arctic sea ice is due to the increased traffic of the “ice breakers”
When these fossil ‘fool’ losers finally get home can they please be tarred and feathered?
I seem to remember from when I was in the Navy, that the horizon was over 20 miles away from viewing at deck level.
Hmm, 4 hours to go 1 “mile” = 20 x 4 = 80 hours. They can make it faster if the ice starts thinning out. Let’s hope they can make it to open water.
Anyone know if they did the 2 luggage transport rescues?
Why not? The BBC thought it was climatey. Take a look.
Those who live by the climatey will die by the climatey, matey. 😉
Jimbo says: @ur momisugly January 2, 2014 at 4:53 pm
When these fossil ‘fool’ losers finally get home can they please be tarred and feathered?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I can just see it now. A mob of irate tax papers with signs reading:
TAR AND FEATHER PROFESSOR CHRIS(TMAS) TURKEY!
With pictures of a half plucked turkey and bags of feathers to toss like confetti.
And they got stuck in over 3 metres of “how quickly the Antarctic’s sea ice was disappearing.”
So the ice breaker is close to getting trapped in the ice itself? I that like a snow plow getting stuck in the snow?
The irony it burns.