Passengers Rescued From Ship Trapped In Antarctic

If you keep up with the world news, you've probably heard about the Russian research vessel, the Akademik Shokalskiy, being trapped in the Antarctic ice. The vessel became stuck on Christmas Eve after heading into an usually thick patch of ice and was unable to make its way out. After several failed rescue attempts, a Chinese icebreaker was finally able to make its way to the stranded ship, rescuing all 52 crew members on board.

In the wake of three previous failed attempts to rescue the stranded crew members, the Chinese government sent one of their most powerful ice breakers, the Xue Long (translates into Snow Dragon), to the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy. Although the Snow Dragon wasn't able to make its way completely to the trapped vessel, it was able to get within range to send its helicopter to ferry passengers.

Of course, there were a few hiccups along the way, one of which being the weather conditions. The Snow Dragon was forced to stand by and wait for the visibility to improve before they could ferry passengers off the trapped vessel. With the snow pouring down faster than crew members could wipe it from the helicopter windshield, there was simply no way for them to feasibly ferry the trapped passengers.

"We must be patient and wait until the adverse weather improves, as poor visibility could lead to tragedy under the current conditions of limited navigation and weather forecast," said Snow Dragon captain Jia Shuliang.

Before the Chinese helicopter could safely land, passengers on board the Akademik Shokalskiy were asked to prepare a landing zone by compacting the snow. In a video posted on YouTube, you can see dozens of passengers stomping the snow-covered ice with their boots. Once the snow was compacted down far enough to create a solid landing zone, the helicopter began making its rounds.

The rescue operation was expected to take 5 or 6 flights in order to rescue all 52 crew members, but this was shortened once conditions improved. In just a few hours, the Snow Dragon was able to safely move all of the trapped crew members to other ships waiting nearby.

This ordeal didn't dampen the spits of the 52 crew members trapped on board the Akademik Shokalskiy. With an active internet connection via satellite, they were able to post videos on YouTube while sending emails to their friends and family members.