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PASSENGERS ABOARD A scientific expedition ship which has been trapped in thick ice in Antarctica since Christmas Day are to be rescued by a helicopter after the latest attempt at a rescue failed.
The ship, which has been recreating an Arctic expedition from 100 years ago, has been stranded for almost seven days now, as a number of icebreaker vessels have tried but been unable to reach it.
The ice around the ship is estimated to be up to 3 metres thick. The ship, called the Akademik Shokalskiy, is stranded about 1,500 nautical miles south of Australia with 74 scientists, tourists and crew on board.
In the latest rescue attempt, an Australian vessel which had gotten as close as 10 nautical miles to the trapped vessel was unable to get any further as it faced getting stuck in ice itself.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority which is coordinating the rescue said a helicopter on board a nearby Chinese vessel will now be used to get the 52 passengers from the ship. The 22 crew members are expected to remain with the vessel.
(Video: Intrepid Science/YouTube)
“This rescue will be a complex operation involving a number of steps and subject to factors such as weather,” the AMSA said in a statement.
The passengers are likely to be rescued in groups of 12 and transported to the Chinese ship before being transferred in one group to the Aurora Australis, the nearby Australian vessel.
The weather is still bad in the area so the helicopter will not be able to make an attempt at a rescue until tomorrow at the earliest.
Decisions related to carrying out the rescue may be made at short notice to take advantage of any sudden changes in the weather.
Up until now passengers have been able to leave the ship to walk on the ice and continue to carry out their experiments.
The search and rescue operation began on Christmas morning when a rescue coordination centre in the UK received a distress message via satellite from the Akademik Shokalskiy.
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Sad we have lost him – regardless if self inflicted or natural medical problem-He will be missed ;-(
And why are people so eager to find out…should be just in his family’s interest in knowing. …
Won’t make any difference now anyway sadly.
I’d call him a hero before I’d call him a heroin
Prince was a Jehovah’s Witness.
He had been badly in need of a double hip replacement but it was against his beliefs to have a blood transfusion.
Makes no difference now in any case as his soul will be winging its way back to the Creator.
RIP.
What sort of shite are you spouting Cal?
This morbid fascination with how he died is creepy to say the least.
Some ” theories” being put forward demonstrate how the Internet seems to bring out the darkness in certain people. Let get guy rest in peace and be thankful for his music.
He was a very well known public figure,an icon for many people,legions of fans across the planet.He lived his live to a fair degree in the public eye,people being curious or wanting to know how he met his end is not morbid fascination,creepy or dark…exaggerate much?
Does it matter how he died may he r.I.p his music will live on
We’ll finally know if he really did have those ribs removed
It doesn’t matter how he died, he was a genious and I’m glad to say I saw him perform in Malahide, r.I.p Prince, oiche maith
Genius
I like that he talked about geoengineering in a interview before his death
A sobering reminder that unfortunately, our favourite celebrities (and musical geniuses) often talk a lot of b*llocks.
Also, it wasn’t his last interview. But I guess that bit made it seem a bit more spooky.
Geoengineering and GMOs are worth talking about…just because you trust the mad men who run the planet…not everyone is quite so naive…
The science is clear on GMOs, unless you’re just talking about risk of ecosystem takeover, which is a useful conversation to have.
Geoengineering, i.e. chemtrails, is a load of nonsense that has never, ever been substantiated.
Overdose
Evidence ?
Apparently he overdosed on painkillers last week and was revived. He really needed surgery but as one poster said earlier he wouldn’t go through with it for religious reasons. I suppose we will have to wait for the coroners results..in the meantime its probably better to sit back and listen to some of the brilliant music he made. And remember he was musical genius.
Every single news outlet in the world has been reporting in since this afternoon and the pm results are obviously waiting for toxicology results. So it’s so obviously an overdose.
Sorry if everyone is so offended by that but honestly can’t understand why they are!
Like I said it was reported he overdosed on painkillers last week..but sure you seem to know more. We wiĺl wait for toxicology results so..now maybe you might wait as well.
Wow!!! You know before the medical examiners complete the post-mortem. Quick!! Get on Sky and tell them u know more than anyone else. Ye dope!!!!
Macooper, not obviously an overdose. Not obviously anything yet just pure speculation. I don’t think people would be offended if it were an overdose its more the complete spoofery of people who think before the results are in that is bothering people.
What is that all about?!
Heroin
Kill your idol or your idol will kill you .
Loada w@nkbots invading
Don’t take our sting journal
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