Antarctic ships escape from ice trap as weather changes

[hue]

Source: BBC NEWS

The Russian research ship Akademik Shokalskiy and Chinese icebreaker Xue Long have broken free from Antarctic ice where they had been stranded for several days.

The Russian ship's captain said a crack had appeared in the ice after a change in wind direction.

The Akademik Shokalskiy got stuck on 25 December. It has a Russian crew of 22.

On Thursday, the Xue Long's helicopter ferried 52 passengers from the stranded Russian ship to an Australian vessel.

The Xue Long then became stuck itself on Friday.

"We're going slowly and zig-zagging, we've already moved more than 20 [nautical] miles," Captain Igor Kiselyov of the Russian ship told Itar-Tass news agency.

"It's tough going so far, a lot of mist, visibility is no more than 500 metres," he said.

He confirmed that the Chinese ship was also moving and that Akademik Shokalskiy was just north of it

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25635690

[newfie11]

1. So our 30 year old ice breaker doesn't get to come to the rescue

Rachel had a story about this last night.

[happyslug]

4. We have one that new???

The US has a Research Ice Breaker it built in 1999, the "Healy", it is a 16,000 ton displacement ice breaker:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Healy_(WAGB-20)

The next set of ice breakers, were build in the 1970s, but slightly smaller then the Healy at 13,623 long tons displacement:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar-class_icebreaker

If the Russians had any real concern, they would be sending the "50 Let Pobedy" or "Fiftieth Anniversary of Victory" Nuclear Ice breaker at over 25,000 ton displacement, or one of its three still in use sister ships of the Arktika-class of icebreakers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_50_Let_Pobedy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arktika_(icebreaker)

The Arktika itself reached the NORTH POLE in 1977, the 50 Let Pobedy construction was not started till the early 1990s then construction stopped till 2003 and completed in 2007, thus a new ship. The Arktika is scheduled to be scrapped by it is 40 years old and was used for most of those 40 years in the Arctic Sea., thus its haul is now considered to thin, due to how haul was used to break ice, to be used as an ice breaker.


Side note: To move the 50 Let Pobedy to the Antarctic, the nuclear reactor would have to be shut down and the ship towed to the Antarctic. The reason for this is the ship was designed so the Arctic ice cold water would cool down the reactor. Not impossible and could be done but take a month or two to stop the reactor, tow it to the Antarctic and then restart its reactor. This is report on the wikipedia site for the Yamel, another ship of this class:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamal_(icebreaker)

If you want to go to the North Pole, The Yamel will take you there, The Yamel has made 47 trips to the Norht pole.

Video of a Trip to the North Pole on the Yamel in 2000:

List of US Coast Guard Ships, including the Ice Breakers:
http://www.uscg.mil/datasheet/#cutters

[newfie11]

6. I was off by a few years. Link below

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140106-antarctica-ship-polar-star-icebreakers-trapped-science-world/

This is the Polar Star built in 1976.

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. Polar Star has better Rating for Icebreaking

Polar Star is rated for 6ft ice at 3 kts and 21ft backing and ramming
Healy is only rated 4.5ft ice at 3 ts and 8.5ft backing and ramming

Good thing we don't need the Polar Class as they have already been deactivated once and were going to be scrapped again. Obviously we can get some Privatized IceBreaker to do the job.

[happyslug]

9. But, I suspect, like Arktika, has broken to much ice.

The Russia Nuclear ice Breaker Arktika, the first surface ship to arrived at the North Pole (in 1977) is set to be scraped, for its haul has become to thin, do to all the scrapping it has done breaking ice since the 1970s. I suspect the same for the Polar Class, in service just as long and thus the haul is more and more marginal for ice breaking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_icebreaker

[dipsydoodle]

2. Now they're free

the Australian ship won't need to go back for the crews. That was one possibility.

[Fred Sanders]

3. But the mass media was set to go 24/7 covering this "crisis", but it just slips away?

Now what, will they have to cover some dancing bears to fill in the time?

[christx30]

7. "The Internet meme that could

destroy the world! Details at 11. Don't miss it!"

[warrior1]

5. that was an interesting piece Rachel had on the big ships

but, really burrrr