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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Hmm the ice extent we see at NSIDC and cryosphere today suggest moth-eaten late season ice. The Aurora cams reveal pretty wintery, crisp, powdery snowy cold jammed ice.
is it really the height of summer down there……….
Thank you Anthony for all the nice webcam pics. Now we know what disappearing sea ice looks like. (Health warning for the benefit of the humoristically challenged: this comment contains sarcasm.)
@Stuart Elliot: January 2, 2014 at 3:51 pm
I’d bet they won’t get any hard questions from the spineless Australian media.
would anyone on this expedition be at all concerned about thelse people?
US News: India Suffers Through Deadly Freezing Temperatures (PHOTOS)
1 of 12
A stray dog sleeps with laborers under blankets on a sidewalk in New Delhi, India. At least 230 people have died from record freezing temperatures in India, marking the coldest winter in 44 years.
5 of 12
Homeless people sleep wrapped in quilts that are rented by the night on a footpath in New Delhi, India.
11 of 12
A young Indian child looks out from a blanket in a slum area as thousands of homeless people seek places in temporary shelters to escape from unusually cold temperatures throughout the country.
12 of 12
Indian pilgrims fight icy winds while drying clothes at a temporary camp in Kolkata. The extreme temperatures are attributed to dense fog which has obscured the sun and icy winds from the snowy Himalayas to the north.
http://www.usnews.com/photos/india-suffers-through-deadly-freezing-temperatures
Vientiane Times, Laos: People shivering in the freezing northern temperatures
Large numbers of people in the northern provinces are spending their nights huddled around fires to keep warm, due to a lack of warm clothing in this incredibly cold weather which has caught many people by surprise
“Students could not write in the morning because their hands were frozen, therefore teaching hours began later when it became warm during the day,” said the union’s President Ms Longkham Phonmixay…
According to Ms Longkham, in communities where electricity is available the situation is much less serious as a lot of people have cheap electric heaters…
http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/FreeContent/FreeConten_People.htm
J. Philip Peterson says: @ur momisugly January 2, 2014 at 4:56 pm
… Anyone know if they did the 2 luggage transport rescues?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It is not clear. The orginal plan was 5 trips for people and two for luggage. The above report says: “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.”
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.”
So there was an additional 40 minutes they may have made the extra trip or two. Otherwise the last trip was 4 people and some of the luggage and a half hour to unload.
The original estimate, if I remember correctly was 5 hours for 7 trips but that was to the Snow Dragon. I doubt if they did more than one extra trip for luggage.
The tourists could easily have been told to make two piles, one for essentials (10-20 lbs) and a second for the second trip if the conditions remained good.
When I go to the webcam I see open water with a few ice floes. But I’ve been seeing the same picture for the last couple of hours. Suspect they’ve stopped the live feed for some reason.
hoboduke;
Give them dog sleds and a dog team to fight their way back.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
What the poor dogs done to deserve that?
Does anyone have current info on the fate of Akademik Shokalskiy’s crew?
I have wondered about that too and it seems it’s not yet settled science.
So no need to fund research in that area? Has there been research in this area? Why am a feeling suspicious again? I am just too cynical for my own good. I THINK that ice breakers have virtually no effect in the Arctic. So there.
Jimbo you can’t tar and feather climate activists! That would be blasphemy! You can only roll them in organic yogurt and coat them lightly with flax seed! (But they’re delicious that way!)
How much carbon/climate impact, and how many dollars, has this debacle cost? And why, if it was safe to leave crew on the ship, was the huge expenditure in money and climate impact made to remove the passengers.
They had plenty of food and water, and could have easily been supplied more with a single helo trip.
Hypocrites.
Yes Aphan, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
pat says: @ur momisugly January 2, 2014 at 5:09 pm
would anyone on this expedition be at all concerned about these people?…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
No of course not.
Remember you have BBC and Grauniad reporters there who are responsible for pushing CAGW and anti fossil fuel propaganda while their fellow countrymen froze to death.
Just last spring:
Instead of doing something to help these people (what the fifth estate SHOULD be doing) they are using the money stolen from them to pay for this junket.
Contempt does not even come close to what I feel for these selfish parasites.
What happened to Rabaduke & Willis on this saga? Willis must be cooking up something or maybe it’s just too trivial for them to comment. Not scientific enough. I suspect they are on Holiday…
Maybe I missed their posts…
Aphan says: @ur momisugly January 2, 2014 at 5:13 pm…
I prefer to marinade my vegans in wine and spices for 24 hours before cooking. With this bunch I can forget the marinade. It has already been done.
The Aurora Australis can accommodate the Sikorsky S-76 which has a gross weight of 5307kg. The Kamov KA32 (“Chinese helicopter”) has an empty weight of 6500kg (gross 11000kg). Given that the KA32 rotor diameter of 15.8m (the aircraft’s greatest dimension) is less than the overall 16.0m length of the S-76, it looks like a weight issue. Also, the tailplane of KA32 is very low so might impact the helipad guardrail if that doesn’t drop.
The Aurora Australis has a hangar that can store 3 or 4 helicopters. It looks like none were aboard (or operable).
The media will drop the story now that the “celebs” are “rescued”, unless the Russian boat gets into difficulties. Hopefully our host’s weather forecast will be realised and the wind will break up the ice and allow ship and crew to quietly exit to safety.
.
OLD DATA says: January 2, 2014 at 5:11 pm “Does anyone have current info on the fate of Akademik Shokalskiy’s crew?”
No, not current, but they may have had juust about enough time to tap the tun of vodka in preparation for a long win…ahh…summer’s nap – now that the tourista’re gone. Is her hull shaped to pop up or pop under pressure ice?
Yep roughly the same as early July in the northern hemisphere, so only a few more weeks of peak heating then the temperature decline of autum begins.
J. Philip Peterson says:
January 2, 2014 at 5:25 pm
What happened to Rabaduke & Willis on this saga? Willis must be cooking up something or maybe it’s just too trivial for them to comment. Not scientific enough. I suspect they are on Holiday…
Maybe I missed their posts…
++++++++++
Willis is quite engaged in a number of recent posts he’s made. I’m sure that’s keeping him busy.
I bet you can find him playing in one or more of these sandboxes 🙂
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/28/climate-as-a-heat-engine/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/21/the-magnificent-climate-heat-engine/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/28/the-thermostatic-throttle/
J. Philip Peterson says:
January 2, 2014 at 5:25 pm
What happened to Rabaduke & Willis on this saga? Willis must be cooking up something or maybe it’s just too trivial for them to comment. Not scientific enough. I suspect they are on Holiday…
Maybe I missed their posts…
++++++++++
Willis is quite engaged in a number of recent posts he’s made. I’m sure that’s keeping him busy.
I bet you can find him playing in one or more of these sandboxes 🙂
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/28/climate-as-a-heat-engine/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/21/the-magnificent-climate-heat-engine/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/28/the-thermostatic-throttle/
And here’s a more recent one where you will find Willis:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/30/cancelling-the-tropical-cancellation/
Indiegogo campaign still stuck at 1k; hasn’t moved in a week. It would seem that public opinion is somewhat less than favorable.
http://www.spiritofmawson.com
GeorgeL says:
January 2, 2014 at 4:38 pm
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
Johnny Appleseed 2
I’d make Turney personally pay for the all the extra cost.
Perhaps that is why Turney was so adamant in a recent video that Austalian tax payers have to foot the bill. One way to stop the alarmist propaganda is to make them pay personally for their fake forecasts. Money is the number 1 motivator for people today. There shouldn’t be a positive motivator for the alarmists as exists today. It should be pay for performance.
Unfortunately, Turney will now be hero with the alarmists and he will be rewarded in several different ways by climate science.
Doug, maybe it was the depleted state of the vodka supplies that induced them to turf out the passengers… so they could enjoy the rest themselves.