The 74 people aboard the Russian-flagged MV Akademik Shokalskiy have been stranded since 24 December, about 2,800 kilometres south of Hobart, Tasmania. A helicopter rescue was the last option left after French, Chinese and then Australian icebreakers failed to smash through more than 20 kilometres of pack ice.
‘Take off! second team gone. Looking good,’ expedition leader Chris Turney tweeted from the stranded ship.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the helicopter from the Snow Dragon was setting down passengers direct to an ice floe adjacent to the Aurora Australis rather than following the initial plan of landing on the Chinese ship and then ferrying the passengers by barge to the Aurora. ‘AMSA has received confirmation that the first transfer of 12 passengers to the Aurora Australis has been completed,’ the agency said in a tweet.
The Aurora is less than 4 kilometres from the Snow Dragon and the Shokalskiy about 22 km away.
‘Take off! second team gone. Looking good,’ expedition leader Chris Turney tweeted from the stranded ship.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the helicopter from the Snow Dragon was setting down passengers direct to an ice floe adjacent to the Aurora Australis rather than following the initial plan of landing on the Chinese ship and then ferrying the passengers by barge to the Aurora. ‘AMSA has received confirmation that the first transfer of 12 passengers to the Aurora Australis has been completed,’ the agency said in a tweet.
The Aurora is less than 4 kilometres from the Snow Dragon and the Shokalskiy about 22 km away.