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| US icebreaker heads to Antarctic to |
| US icebreaker heads to Antarctic to help stuck ships
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 4-January-2014
21:57:15 PM |
| A US icebreaker was dispatched Sunday to assist an icebound Russian research ship and Chinese vessel trapped during a rescue bid in Antarctica, as the leader of a group airlifted to safety rejected French criticism of their expedition.
The US Coast Guard's Polar Star accepted an Australian request to go to the aid of the marooned Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy which has been beset by ice since December 24.
It will also aid the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long which was involved in a dramatic helicopter rescue of the Shokalskiy's 52 passengers on Thursday.
The Xue Long has become trapped itself, with China vowing "all-out efforts" to assist the ship which is surrounded by ice of up to four metres thick and is stuck 21 kilometres from open water, according to state news agency Xinhua which has reporters on board.
"If the ship is stranded for a very long time, which is very rare indeed, then we'll have to evacuate the people onboard and leave the vessel there," said division director Qu Tanzhou, adding that the vessel's mission for the rest of the season would have to be revised.
The Polar Star, which left the US in early December to clear a channel for ships resupplying McMurdo Station research base, left Sydney Sunday after taking on provisions, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
The 122-metre (400-foot) ship is capable of continuously breaking ice up to 1.8 metres (six feet) thick while travelling at three knots, and can break ice more than six metres thick by ramming.
It is expected to take seven days to reach Commonwealth Bay where the two ships are trapped in ice, 100 nautical miles from the French Antarctic base of Dumont d'Urville
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