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The view from the deck of the Xue Long.

Chinese ship used in Antarctic rescue now stuck in ice

The Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, came close to reaching the Russian ship stuck last week – and now has been blocked itself.

A CHINESE ICEBREAKER that went to the aid of a Russian ship stuck in heavy floes in Antarctica has now itself become trapped by ice, officials said today, amid anger about the impact of the rescue on research.

The Xue Long, which on Thursday used its helicopter to ferry dozens of passengers on the stranded Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy to the safety of an Australian vessel, has been unable to free itself.

“Xue Long has confirmed to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority it is beset by ice,” the authority said in a statement.

The Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, came tantalisingly close to cutting through heavy ice to reach the Shokalskiy a week ago but had to abandon its attempt once it realised it could not break through. It has hardly moved in recent days.

Chinese news agency Xinhua, which has reporters onboard the Xue Long, said the ship’s passage had been blocked since Friday morning by a drifting, one-kilometre long iceberg.

Captain Wang Jianzhong said the constantly changing position of the massive iceberg, which sometimes came as close as 1.2 nautical miles to the ship, and ice floes was making conditions complex, Xinhua reported.

The Chinese vessel will only attempt to free itself after this huge block of ice moves away, with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urging the ship’s team to stay calm as they wait for the best moment to act.

Australian authorities said the master of the Chinese ship had confirmed that the vessel was safe, was not in immediate distress and did not require assistance. The ship has food supplies for several weeks.

The Shokalskiy remains stuck in ice 100 nautical miles from the French Antarctic base of Dumont d’Urville with 22 crew on board.

Several attempts by icebreakers to reach the Russian ship failed, including by the Australian Antarctic supply ship the Aurora Australis, while poor weather initially delayed helicopter rescue plans.

The 22 scientists, 26 paying passengers and four journalists on board the Shokalskiy who were helicoptered off the ship are now on the Aurora Australis, which had been standing by to help the Xue Long.

However, AMSA Saturday released the Aurora Australis to continue its journey to Australia’s Antarctic base Casey, where it is due to deliver supplies before heading to the Australian city of Hobart.

“The masters of both Akademik Shokalskiy and Xue Long agree that further assistance from Aurora Australis is no longer required and they will be able to provide mutual support to each other,” AMSA said.

How did this happen?

Australian authorities have said that any inquiry into how the Shokalskiy came to be stranded would have to be conducted by Russian authorities but have acknowledged that the incident could impact guidelines for polar expeditions.

The rescue mission, which also initially involved the French ship the Astrolabe, has also impacted some Antarctic research programmes, according to Yves Frenot, director of the French Polar Institute.

The rescue mission forced French scientists to scrap a two-week oceanographic campaign this month using the Astrolabe, he said.

“But we are relatively lucky. The Chinese have had to cancel all their scientific programme, and my counterpart in Australia is spitting tacks with anger, because their entire summer has been wiped out,” he said.

Impact on scientific research

The Aurora was forced to suspend its resupply of the Australian base to rush to the aid of the Shokalskiy, but authorities said it was not yet known what impact the incident would have on scientific programmes.

“The diversion will inevitably squeeze an already tight season,” Jason Mundy, acting director of the Australian Antarctic Division, said Friday, adding that officials were working hard to minimise the impact.

The trip on the Akademik Shokalskiy was aimed at emulating a 1911-1914 expedition by the Australian explorer, Sir Douglas Mawson and Frenot said “this kind of commemorative expedition has no interest from a scientific point of view”.

The scientists onboard, assisted by the passengers, were repeating century-old measurements to discover the environmental changes taking place in the frozen southern region.

They were also looking at the circulation of the Southern Ocean and the sub-Antarctic islands as thermometers of climatic change.

- © AFP, 2014

Rescuers due to reach ship stuck in Antarctic ice>
Here’s what Tom Crean and friends were having for dinner, inchind through the ice 99 years ago today>

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    Mute Tony Flynn
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:48 AM

    This is eerily similar to the ‘Tunnel of Goats’ incident on Craggy Island a few years back.

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    Mute Cornelius Talmadge
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:49 AM

    The Chinese – a great bunch of lads

    102
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    Mute patrick
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:52 AM

    Love it

    29
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    Mute David O Connor
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    Jan 4th 2014, 2:44 PM

    Send in a B52 bomber and drop a linear sequence of cluster bombs that are used normally to blow up runways. This will create a safe passage of broken ice to escape…Ear plugs and safety glasses everyone..Send the bill to the Russians.

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    Mute Justin Casey
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    Jan 5th 2014, 7:35 AM

    the global warming investigation ship no less…. lol

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    Mute Kevin Brady
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    Jan 4th 2014, 12:12 PM

    they should just walk home.i walked all the way home from town once and I was grand!

    124
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    Mute Bartrude
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    Jan 4th 2014, 12:32 PM

    Its probably fair to say they wang the wong guys to do this job.

    52
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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:47 AM

    Time to plug in the hair dryers…

    40
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    Mute Mel Finn
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:52 AM

    correct John, and boil a few kettles jees if they only had our intelligence they would have been home for new year

    45
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    Mute Keith Shanghai Irish
    Favourite Keith Shanghai Irish
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:57 AM

    Darn global warming!!! Oh hang on a minute…..

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Jan 4th 2014, 1:17 PM

    That’s why the term global warming is no longer used, rather climate change. Some places getting hotter, others colder, in Ireland’s case, more extremes in summer and winter

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 4th 2014, 2:33 PM

    Here’s a good description of the difference between arctic sea ice melt and antarctic sea ice melt…
    http://www.skepticalscience.com/arctic-antarctic-sea-ice.htm

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 4th 2014, 2:42 PM

    It is a common mistake to confuse global climate change and regional weather!
    The past decade has been found to be the hottest since scientists started recording reliable data in the 1880s.
    With this current global warming, hotter air around the globe causes more moisture to be held in the air than in prior seasons. That means that when storms occur, this added moisture can fuel heavier precipitation in the form of more intense rain or snow.
    That is also why climate scientists predicted more violent storms (NOT a frequency in the number of storms, but in the violence of storms), and indeed this does seem to be happening already.

    http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/cold-snow-climate-change.html

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    Mute chateau nove de pope
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:42 AM

    It’s all going pear shaped now

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    Mute Foxys van
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:46 AM

    I think it’s time to call Chuck Norris

    48
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    Mute John Doee
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:46 AM

    To cold for chinese in antarctica, much nicer in the sun

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    Mute J. Dunn
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:54 AM

    The glacial pace of this operation is surprising.

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    Mute Aunty Simmonite
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:53 AM

    Meanwhile the northeastern United States is being battered by snowstorms .
    ” According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”.

    “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” he said.”

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    Mute Jim Flavin
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    Jan 4th 2014, 12:24 PM

    Meanwhile the north-eastern United States is being battered by snowstorms .”
    Very bad 11 dead ,

    and Ice levels in Antarctica are at near record levels – as are LOW temperatures – and it is summer there !! and heavy snow in middle East about ten days ago !!..
    We don’t hear too much about these things from mass media .
    The Events in Antarctica are pure slapstick comedy – but at least several nations are working ???????????? together .

    20
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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 4th 2014, 2:36 PM

    I assume by your comment you are somehow trying to say that climate scientists don’t know what they are talking about and that they are always wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.
    http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/cold-snow-climate-change.html

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    Mute captain morgan
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:47 AM

    Think it time to send our ship an put enda and Eamon in the wheelhouse

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    Mute Foxys van
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    Jan 4th 2014, 11:49 AM

    Eh that ship has already sunk

    45
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    Mute Donal O Neil
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    Jan 4th 2014, 2:32 PM

    What flucking ship do we have able to get there ?

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    Mute Mike Clinton
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    Jan 4th 2014, 1:05 PM

    Captain Fluckin Fleezing is hopeful that the good ship Fluckin Stuck will get going later.
    The ships helicopter “Fluckin Chopper” will be transporting the Fluckin crew back to the Russian icebreaker “Gerroutyabitch” for a “Fluckin Gerroutyabitch” reunion party on the ice.
    ( I’ll get my coat and hit the red thumb on the way out)

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    Mute David Giles
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    Jan 4th 2014, 1:22 PM

    The Russians may have to send one of their very powerful nuclear powered icebreakers to get these two ships out of the ice. I have no doubt that some important lessons are being learned. I am sure they could all do with some of Tom Crean’s excellent Dingle lager when they get out of there. The IDingle Brewery should airfreight them a few cases.

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    Mute David Giles
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    Jan 4th 2014, 1:46 PM

    Correction- the nuclear powered Russian icebreakers cannot sail to the Southern Hemisphere. This because their powerful nuclear reactors need massive quantities of cold water for cooling purposes. Thus means they cannot pass through the tropics. However the US and Canadian Coastguards both have powerful conventionally powered icebreakers, the USCGC Polar Sea and the CSGS St Laurent, which have both reached the North Pole and which are capable of sailing to Antartica. They are however very expensive to run consuming hundreds of tons of oil per day compared to thd nuclear ships which consume one pound of uranium a day to propel ships of 25,000 tonnes through 6 metres depth of ice at speeds of up to 20 knots. The solution would be to build and station Nuckear powered icebreakers in the Southern Hemisphere.

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    Mute David Giles
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    Jan 4th 2014, 1:59 PM

    The Dingle Brewery should still send the Tom Crean’s lager. It is excellent.

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    Mute Aunty Simmonite
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    Jan 4th 2014, 2:18 PM

    Polar Star was just off Sydney yesterday.

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    Mute David Giles
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    Jan 4th 2014, 5:23 PM

    Hopefully the USCGC Polar Star is carrying a cargo of Tom Crean’s Dingle lager.

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    Mute Aunty Simmonite
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    Jan 4th 2014, 5:27 PM

    The ecoloons are out in force, it’s like Hyde Park Corner here today as they chorus ‘The End is Nigh’ Good innit.

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    Mute graham owens
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    Jan 5th 2014, 3:09 AM

    lynx can and a lighter should do the trick.

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    Mute Aunty Simmonite
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    Jan 4th 2014, 7:20 PM

    These ecoloons have to be chasing the dragon ;-)

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    Mute David Barr
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    Jan 4th 2014, 4:58 PM

    Ice ice baby

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    Mute Chris Linehan
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    Jan 4th 2014, 8:22 PM

    Rice rice baby?

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    Mute John Heffernan
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    Jan 4th 2014, 5:20 PM

    Snowball fight anyone?

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