The Russian ship “Akademik Shokalsky” chartered by New Zealand researchers got stuck in the ice. Three icebreakers have already gone to help. They promise to rescue scientists from captivity within 70 hours. On Wednesday morning, the Australian Maritime Safety Administration (AMSA) received a distress signal from the Akademik Shokalsky vessel, which was blocked by ice approximately 1,500 nautical miles (2.7 thousand kilometers) from Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Hobart. Initially it was reported that the vessel, which carried more than 70 people, was cruising in Antarctica. However, then Roshydromet clarified that "Akademik Shokalsky" is carrying out work commissioned by the Australian Antarctic Expedition and carried out observations off the coast of Antarctica in the area of the Yurville Sea D. Vessels of the icebreaker class XUE LONG (PRC), L " Astrolab (France) and Aurora Australius (Australia). Roshydromet also said that the ship received minor damage to the outer skin, there is no threat to the crew and passengers, RIA Novosti reports. “On December 24, during the completion of the work, due to a sharp deterioration in weather conditions, the vessel was blocked by heavy ice, the movement of the vessel turned out to be impossible. When inspecting the vessel, a rupture was found in the outer skin on the starboard side, 1.8 meters above the waterline. The damage does not pose a danger to the crew and passengers, the crack elimination is carried out by the crew of the R / V Akademik Shokalsky, - told RIA Novosti in Roshydromet. The representative of Roshydromet noted that the vessel stuck in the ice can be released in two days, when other vessels arrive to help it, now nothing threatens the crew and passengers. “Nothing terrible happened. The ship did not have enough just a couple of miles to jump out of the dangerous ice drift. Now they are waiting for passing ships, icebreakers, which will rescue them from there. I think within two days they will do. On board everyone is safe, healthy, the vessel has no damage, there is nothing dangerous for the crew and everyone who is there. But you just have to move on, ”said the agency's interlocutor. According to him, the ship is leased by a New Zealand company, with a group of scientists on board. He added that Roshydromet would not have to pay for the rescue operation if required: "This is the problem of the company that chartered it (the ship)." In turn, the director of the Far Eastern Regional Research Hydrometeorological Institute (DVNIGMI) Yuri Volkov said that the ship was insured in case of unforeseen situations, but did not specify the insurance company and the amount of insurance. “Insured for a normal amount, that's enough,” he said. According to Volkov, FERNIGMI specialists are in contact with the ice-blocked vessel. To eliminate the risk, it was decided to contact the AMSA. It is expected that in a day, three icebreakers passing nearby will be able to approach the Akademik Shokalsky and take it out of ice captivity. “There are more than 70 people on board, including about 50 scientists, including from New Zealand, as well as 23 crew members. Everyone on board is fine. Nothing threatens their life and health, ”the source said. AMSA spokesman Andrea Hayward-Maer, in turn, told ITAR-TASS that the vessel "has no structural damage." “It's safe, and that's good news,” she said. - We are closely following developments, and we have a plan of action in case the situation gets complicated. We hope for icebreakers, but as a last resort we will carry out an evacuation. " Previously aboard the Akademik Shokalsky, the head of the Australian expedition, Chris Turney, tweeted that "help is expected in about 30 hours." Hayward-Maher said that the forecast seems to her "somewhat optimistic", but she "does not consider it impossible, since everything will depend on weather conditions." Terney also said that the air temperature overboard hovered around minus 1 degrees this afternoon (it's summer in Antarctica). “Like the explorers of the past, we found ourselves in the ice,” wrote the leader of the expedition. - All right. Everyone is in high spirits. We wish you all a Merry Christmas. " Marine expert Mikhail Voitenko noted that the speed of rescue of the Akademik Shokalsky depends on which ships are sent to help him. “If ships of approximately the same ice class as the Akademik Shokalsky ship are sent to rescue, then it is doubtful that they can help him in any way. Unless there are helicopters on board, with the help of which people can be evacuated. In addition, it is possible that the ship will be able to free itself from the ice captivity on its own, when, for example, the wind changes. And if he is seriously stuck in heavy ice, then a good icebreaker is needed for effective and quick rescue, ”Voitenko told the VZGLYAD newspaper. He noted that the process of rescuing stuck ships is quite costly, the bill goes somewhere in the tens of thousands of dollars. But the amount is calculated from the time spent on the operation and the type of evacuating vessel. The vessel "Akademik Shokalsky" is operated by the Australian operator Aurora Expeditions, but is owned by the Russian Federation and is assigned to the port of Vladivostok. It was built in 1982 and was originally intended for oceanographic research. The length of the vessel is 71 meters, the displacement is 2140 tons, the speed is 14 knots. NIS fuel tanks are designed for 320 tons of oil products, water tanks - for 250 tons of fresh water. The size of the vessel allows you to navigate where larger vessels will not pass. Akademik Shokalsky accepts 46 passengers on trips to the Arctic and 48 passengers on cruises to Antarctica. The vessel has 26 sea view cabins (including the Amundsen suite with an area of 23.2 square meters) and underwent several modernizations and redevelopments in 2008. On board there are two restaurants, a lecture hall, salon and bar, library, expeditionary physician and outpatient clinic, as well as satellite communications.
On board
there is always a cozy and friendly atmosphere typical for a small expedition. All cabins with ocean views. There is a sauna at the passengers' service. There is a doctor's office and an outpatient clinic. The motor ship is equipped with passive stabilizers to reduce the rolling effect, and is equipped with a satellite system and communication facilities. The Zodiac boat flotilla on board offers additional opportunities for exploring the polar regions. On cruises to the Arctic, optional active adventures are possible - kayaking. The ship's hospitable board is ready to accommodate 48 passengers on cruises to the Antarctic and 46 passengers on cruises to the Arctic. There are 30 crew members on board.The spacious captain's bridge is always open to passengers. It offers stunning views of icebergs and coastal landscapes.
Services on board
Attention! Passenger decks are not serviced by a lift.
Cabin categories
Triple room without amenitiesair ventilation, 1 opening porthole, 1 upper and 2 lower berths, desk, chair, mirror, toiletry rack, bookshelves. storage space, heater, sofa, washbasin. Bathrooms with shower and toilet are conveniently located on the same deck.
Double room without amenities
Deck 3. Approximate area: 9-10 sq.m.
air ventilation, 1 opening porthole, 2 lower berths, desk, chair, mirror, toiletry rack, bookshelves. storage space, heater, sofa (in some cabins), washbasin. Bathrooms with shower and toilet are conveniently located on the same deck.
Double room with private facilities
Decks 4 and 5. Approximate area: 10-12.5 sq.m.
air ventilation, 1 opening window, 2 lower berths, desk, chair, bookshelves, storage space, sofa (in some cabins). Bathroom with shower and toilet.
Superior
Deck 5. Approximate area: 17-20 sq.m.
air ventilation, 3 windows (2 opening), 1 bed, desk, chair, clock, bookshelves, storage space, sofa. Bathroom with shower and toilet.
Amundsen suite
Deck 5. Area: 23.2 sq.m.
air ventilation, 5 windows (3 opening), 1 bed, desk, chair, mirror, bookshelves, storage space, sofa. Bathroom with shower and toilet.
Motor ship "Akademik Shokalsky" (hydrometeorological service), 1980s
The ship "Mogilev" thrown ashore (with a cargo of more than 20,000 poods), covered with ice
"Academician Shokalsky" sucks
From left to right: Viktor Sobolev (radio operator), Valery Nefediev (mechanic), Sergey Sklyanov (first mate)
Shokalsky's team a month before his death (July 1983). From left to right: Nefediev V., Maksimov V., Konovalova A.P. (cook), a sailor who did not go on that voyage, Sklyanov S., Chernysheva A.K., Sobolev V.
Widows, children, relatives of the crew members at the monument on the shore of Lake Baikal (October 1983)
Monument at the site of the sinking of the motor ship "Akademik Shokalsky" (Cape Krasny Yar, October 1983)
Every year a Baikal ship comes to the deserted coast near the Krasny Yar cape, which usually go on the waters of Lake Baikal. There are never tourists on its deck, and people come with him to celebrate a sad feast here. And so every year, in 1993, it was the tenth time.
Here, in this place, in full view of the coast, the motor ship "Akademik Shokalsky" and seven crew members died with it. One of the last major disasters on Lake Baikal with human casualties. The ship disappeared without a trace, without returning anyone to the land. Baikal keeps its secrets tightly.
Those who come here every year remember the dead and the wound does not heal, and the grief is unbearable, and the heart hurts deeper; there are no graves on earth, and even if no one speaks about it aloud, hope lives in everyone - can they be alive? And every year they commemorate Vladislav Ivanovich Chernyshev, Sergei Sklyanov, Valery Nefediev, Viktor Maksimov, Viktor Sobolev, Antonina Konovalova, Valery Rudakov.
Sometimes, knowing why the ship came here, passing ships sail up. People have been associated with Lake Baikal for years, decades, it
rarely lets anyone go. And, looking at Baikal, sparkling under the morning sun from a memorial sign placed on the mountainside, they remember both sad and cheerful.
They were all young, all had children of different ages: Captain Chernyshev's son was already twenty-two years old, and his assistant Sergei Sklyanov had three babies; Nefediev has a nine-year-old daughter, and Maksimov, a mechanic, has a son and a daughter. There were widows, orphans, inconsolable parents.
And the crew was friendly and cheerful. They still remember their pranks and jokes. And maybe funny memories of them brighten up the grief. When arriving at the port, instead of things, someone could put bricks in a backpack, wrapping them with something soft. Or they could, on the contrary, going on a voyage, lay loose all the ties. Before the last tragic voyage, a month before it, the whole crew cut their hair to zero, like recruits.
After the disaster, a garden bench was washed ashore. She was carried away at night from a garden and carried across the city to a ship, frightening and surprising late passers-by. And this
the bench became proof that Shokalsky was killed. How many absurd accidents in life, or really fate, and you can't run away from it. And, obviously, such accidents are enshrined in folk word-creation: "it is written in the family", "whoever will be hanged will not drown." The sailor Alexander Mikheev did not go sailing; instead of him, the artist of the theater of musical comedy Valery Rudakov went on his vacation. And on this day, when a ship comes to Krasny Yar, even if Baikal-father frowned the day before, accelerated the wave, then on August 2, on Ilyin's day, he smiles affectionately, all shines in glare, as if on this day he is trying to atone for his guilt in front of these innocent people, can only be guilty of being wives, mothers of people who passionately loved Lake Baikal and could not imagine life without it.
Baikal belongs to the class of lakes, but disasters happened on it, like on a real sea, and you need to think hard before frivolously calling it a lake. Its waters inspire reverence even when it is quiet and calm. He is not evil and not kind, he is indifferent to the fate of people. And he took the victims from the very beginning of the appearance of fragile boats and sailing ships on him.
“... in the fall of 1772, the“ St. Kuzma ”boat was thrown by a storm on the eastern coast near Posolsk and damaged. In 1779, the bot "Adrian and Natalya" was thrown onto the embassy corga and covered with ice. In 1817, three ships with official lead were smashed by a storm, "ships that were on the delivery of Xeno - the fountain of Mikhailovich Sibiryakov, cargo and people were completely killed." On September 15, 1838, the Irkutsk galiot wrecked near the Ambassadorial Monastery, the crew escaped, the ship sank. " In 1860, in late autumn, the steamer "Heir to the Tsarevich" was lost. "
The largest disaster in terms of the number of human casualties was the disaster with the ship "Potapov", which belonged to the Nemchinov shipping company in the Small Sea. Killed 158 people, of which 143 men, 11 women and four children. 550 barrels of fish were broken, 107 seines were drowned. A detailed study of this disaster based on archival materials was carried out by the captain of the motor ship "Andrulaytis" Viktor Vertyankin and published an article in the journal "River Transport" No. 6 for 1991.
Last year, ten years have passed since the sinking of the motor ship “Akademik Yu.M. Shokalsky ”, with which 7 crew members were killed, including one woman, the ship disappeared, which has not yet been found, despite a thorough search.
The place where the disaster occurred is called Krasny Yar. And in gloomy weather, it makes a gloomy impression. An almost sheer wooded mountain, towering over Lake Baikal with a screen; at the water's edge there are dead pines, whitewashed by the sun, cut off from the mainland; boughs like hands crying for help.
The coast is usually deserted, but on that tragic day of August 2, 1983, fortunately, there were people who found refuge in anticipation of the coming bad weather: fishermen, tourists, children from the nearby Buguldeika. If on this day, as usual, not a single person had been here, the death of the motor ship "Shokalsky" would have remained a secret, never solved. And one more very important circumstance: on the shore of Krasny Yar there was a witness who worked for a long time on the seas of the North
The Arctic Ocean, who had experience in observing the state of the situation at sea and who was then able to draw up a diagram of the situation of the loss of the ship.
In general, at the Cape Krasny Yar is a lost place. One of the ship's inspectors said that he had been investigating raft accidents for about 20 years. Most often, rafts are fought at Krasny Yar. An unusual weather situation arises here, a northwest wind is blowing, fog rolls down from the mountains, not even fog, but some kind of jelly from the fog. Closer to the zenith, the sky is absolutely blue, it seems that the clouds are standing still. The wind blows from mountain crevices, local mountain winds often occur. It is difficult to predict the weather here: there is no weather station on Bugul-milking, and the winds are blowing, the names of which are known to everyone. Barguzin - eastern
wind from Barguzin, Kultuk - south-west wind, Verkhovik - north-east.
In the Krasny Yar area, the weather did not set itself after noon on August 1. At this time, in Irkutsk, the motor ship "Shokalsky" was preparing for the exit to Davsha, to the north. At 14:00 he was examined and found fit for trouble-free sailing. At 18:00 he left Irkutsk and walked along the western coast.
And in the Krasny Yar area, boats moored, which, out of the danger of worsening weather, moored the shore to wait out the bad weather.
During the investigation of the accident with the motor ship "Shokalsky" Grabovsky Nikolay Iovich said: "" ... Wind Aul gusty 15 m / s.(1 August 1983 - ed.), the excitement was about 1 m.We do not go on boats with such excitement. By evening, the wave subsided and we went on, we stopped for the night at Cape Krasny Yar. We pulled out the boats 200-250 meters from the cape, on which there was a beacon and a pole near the water. On August 1, Irkutsk / Ulan-Ude did not broadcast any weather on the radio on Lake Baikal.
In the evening at about 23:00 the wind began to intensify, became gusty again, somewhere up to 25 m / s. and lasted all night. By the morning the wind increased sharply, our palat was torn off at about 7 o'clock. We went to set up tents in the forest, at this time our both boats, tied with a 30 meter rope, were lifted by a whirlwind (tornado) into the air and thrown 15 meters away. The wind blew from both sides of the cape and from above the wind burst from the cape. All this opposite the cape gave rise to whirlwinds. In the place of our stay, the waves were 0.5-0.75 m. On the cape, the wave was stronger, there the water seemed to boil.
... From the side of the Peschanaya Bay, at about 9:00 am, the masts of the ship appeared, and then the ship itself. I noticed him first. During the course, the vessel made some incomprehensible zigzags and, apparently, could not catch the wind with its nose. I did not see any bulky cargo on deck, it was difficult to see because of the distance and visibility. Then the ship leveled off and went towards the cape and I stopped watching him.
... Then Cheremnykh turned to Babkin and shouted: "He rolled over!" I looked and saw that the ship, in my opinion, was lying on its side and after 30 seconds I saw a completely red bottom and screws. After about 5 minutes, one person appeared, then a second and a third. The vessel was afloat for about 20-25 minutes. The ship was constantly turning in the water and it went out more seaward. Whirlwinds constantly whirled around the ship; they often hid the ship. In my opinion, the wind speed was up to 50 m / sec., Even a pebble the size of a fingernail was carried. The ship disappeared. The wind died down somehow imperceptibly. At about 17 o'clock we started to deal with boats. Cheremnykh noticed some objects on the water and seagulls were flying over them. Directly at us out of the water two life buoys were carried, on which was written Г-314 IUGMS (1). Also took out the canister from
from the Neptune motor and from the Whirlwind motor. They were badly crumpled. " (2)
All the people who witnessed the disaster say that the weather began to deteriorate on August 1, but none of the radio stations reported a change in the weather situation.
Panov Yuri Andreevich: “... On August 1 we were on a sailing boat in the Krasny Yar region. Because of the danger of the mountain wind, I tied the boat tightly. At 2 am the mountain began, I woke up from its noise. The boats rushed about on a leash. I haven't slept all night. At 9 o'clock I sawas the ship was going from the direction of Buguldeika, it heeled to the port side. He walked among the whirlwinds and tornadoes and substituted the board for the mountain. But the ship passed and disappeared behind the cape. We returned to the winter hut. Gladkov took a camera and went to shoot the raging Baikal. Suddenly he screamed. We jumped out of the winter hut, he pointed to the horizon. There lay a large ship, bottom up. A few minutes later, the figure of a man appeared, he crawled along the bottom and grabbed the steering wheel. Then two more figures appeared and joined him. The ship was heading east. The ship disappeared amidst tornadoes and spray. We talked among ourselves, seeing how people were dying before our eyes, but we could not do anything, although people were dying before our eyes. A kilometer from the coast, I saw a red bottom and three dots on it, and then everything disappeared. "(3)
Panov says that Gladkov was filming the raging Baikal. Gladkov was a Muscovite. When they found out that he had a film, on the day of departure he was found at the station and persuaded to give the film. But with it came a completely incomprehensible story - indeed, Baikal does not part with secrets - during the development, the entire emulsion was washed off.
Another witness, Oleg Dmitrievich Kozlov, says:
“... I turned on the radio, but the weather was broadcast only in Irkutsk, Buryatia didn’t say anything about Baikal either, although the sea was unimaginable, it seemed to be shaken from below. Tornadoes walked along the sea, they fell like fountains on the shore, as if it was raining. The wind kicked pebbles into the air. Our boat was washed ashore, and there was a sound as if a large egg had been crushed. The boat was blown to shreds. We went to the yachtsmen to talk about boats (that is, we went to the winter quarters - auth.). One of them went to the shore to take pictures, then we heard his terrible cry: "Guys!" We saw 1.5 km. from the shore, the ship lies on its side. Five minutes later, it turned upside down. The three got out to the steering wheel. Then it disappeared.
A bench, a tank, a measuring pole, cool with a number, a large box with holes, a nylon barrel floated on the water. There was a lot of bread floating in the water. "(4)
Cheremnykh Vladimir Mikhailovich says:
“... At the time of the accident, we were located south of the Krasny Yar Cape lighthouse. We were on our way from rest on the Small Sea with goods. We stopped at Krasny Yar because of the worsening weather. (Aug 1, 1983 - ed.). At 12 o'clock at night from 1 to 2 August we went to bed. The tent was torn down and by 7 in the morning it was torn down completely.
About 8 hours damaged boats washed ashore.
At about 9 o'clock in the area of Cape Dyrovaty (Arka) I saw a boat (the motor ship "Shokalsky" Cheremnykh calls a boat -aut.).
The boat with a white superstructure was heading north, the boat behind the wheelhouse was gray. The boat went exactly without swaying and there were no fears for its fate. There were no people or cargo on deck.
For 2 or 3 kilometers, he began to scour, got into a strip of squall wind. The wind changed from the south-west, then from the south-east, while the boat heeled. After that, I began to watch him steadily.
The ship appeared abeam our anchorage, but at 0930 hours the gusty wind intensified. And there was a wall coming from the north. I turned for a moment to the fire, and when I looked back to the lake, the ship was already upside down. There were no floating objects. The squall wind intensified even more and even tore off pebbles from the sandy strip. There were high waves of about 20-30 m (5), with a front of 50-100 meters, which from time to time formed water tornadoes 20 m high, which went in different directions and after 30-40 seconds appeared again. The pillars were made of water droplets. The sky was bursting with light blue. And over the middle of Lake Baikal, the sky was completely clear and blue.
When the vessel floated upside down, after 5 - 8 minutes a man appeared in the bow of the bottom and ran to the steering wheel. After another five minutes, two people appeared. The vessel was still afloat for 10-15 minutes.
People were in one place, the ship was turning around, tornadoes continued to appear. A tornado arose, a wall of spray covered the ship, and when the wall disappeared, there was no ship or people.
By one o'clock in the afternoon, the storm began to subside. By 17 o'clock to the right of the sinking of the ship, I saw several dark objects through the telescope, including a barrel. And many seagulls gathered. At 17-00 one of the friends drove to the place of death and brought a measuring pole, a red seat, a 20-liter can of gasoline and a dented fuel tank from the outboard motor. Later, foam plastic, two life buoys with the inscription G-314 and the letters IUGKS, and even later a wooden ladder were washed ashore.
During the storm there were schoolchildren from Buguldeika, three yachtsmen on the shore.
About two hours after the sinking of the ship, a ship passed northward, whose identity was not established.
Around 20-00 a boat "Kazanka" (a man and a woman) passed by, we stopped them and asked them to report their death to the authorities in Buguldeyka.
03.08 we went to Irkutsk and in the port of Baikal reported the incident.
For 20 years, during which I have been to Lake Baikal, I have not seen such phenomena.
I worked on the Kara Sea, on the Laptev Sea, there was no such thing either.
After the storm on August 2, at about 17-18 o'clock, transverse stripes appeared in the sky, which quickly went from West to East. "(6)
The search work carried out did not find any of the crew members of the deceased ship, nor did they find the ship itself, its whereabouts are unknown.
All the necessary investigative measures were taken and in the decision to terminate the criminal case investigator V.M. Seregin writes: « ... in the Krasniy Yar area near the western shore of Lake Baikal, fell into the zone of action of an unpredictable, extremely rare local hazardous phenomenon with the formation of tornadoes and a "wind speed significantly exceeding the wind limits for this vessel specified in the ship's documents, as a result of which the vessel capsized and sank . "
In October 1983, all the relatives of the victims gathered together and went ashore near Krasny Yar, then it became an annual tradition. And the grief was so fresh, the heart ached so much that Sergei Sklyanov's father could not resist, rushed to Baikal and swam, probably in a desperate attempt to see the silhouette of the dead ship through the water column. They managed to intercept him already quite far from the coast.
The summer of 1993 was unusually hot. Baikal dozed lazily on the shores. And suddenly a rumor spread that they had seen the red bottom of the ship from the helicopter; he hung at the very abyss on the teeth of the underwater rocks. But it was only a rumor.
Nadezhda lives on until the very last minute, and Baikal does not part with its secret, it is indifferent to human destinies.
NOTES
1.IUGMS - witnesses incorrectly name the abbreviation; followed by IUGKS - Irkutsk Territorial Administration for Meteorology and Environmental Control.
2. Case No. 30508 on the fact of the loss of the motor ship "Shokalsky" and all members of the ship's crew, which took place on August 2, 1983 in the area of Cape Krasny Yar. - Archive of the Irkutsk Transport Prosecutor's Office. 135-136.
Z. In the same place, l.d. 138-139.
4.Ibid, l.d. 123-124. 5. Probably a mistake, the witness wanted to say 2 -Zm.
b See note. 2, l. 105-107.
This report is available in high definition
On December 24, 2013, the research vessel "Akademik Shokalsky" was blocked in Antarctica by fragments of an iceberg. Several mighty ships came to his aid at once. At first, the Chinese and French icebreakers did not master the 3-meter ice, and then the Aurora Australis, with which they pinned the main hopes for getting out of the ice captivity, could not break through.
Report on the international rescue operation in Antarctica.
On board the scientific vessel "Akademik Shokalsky" there were 74 people, including the crew, scientists and tourists. It embarked on a cruise from New Zealand to visit several locations off the Antarctic coast.
Expedition leader Greg Montimer. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
“Akademik Shokalsky” was blocked by ice a day after the start of the trip. The distress signal came from him on December 25 in the morning. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
Ice-bound "Akademik Shokalsky". (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
An international rescue operation has begun in Antarctica. Chinese and French icebreakers advanced to meet the Akademik Shokalsky, but they could not break through the 3-meter ice.
The Chinese icebreaker "Snow Dragon" goes to rescue "Akademik Shokalsky". (Photo by Zhang Jiansong | Xinhua | Zuma Press):
View from the Chinese icebreaker "Snow Dragon", hurrying to the rescue. Silhouettes of penguins are visible on the left on the ice floe. (Photo by Zhang Jiansong | Xinhua | Zuma Press):
And scientists, expecting salvation, were engaged in scientific affairs. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
The passengers did not lose heart either. When else will you celebrate the New Year in Antarctica? (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
Passenger of the ship "Akademik Shokalsky" and a local resident. (Photo by Reuters | Andrew Peacock):
Then the main hopes were pinned on the more powerful Australian ship "Aurora Australis", but it also failed. After that, it was decided to evacuate the passengers by helicopter.
Curious penguins are watching what is happening. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
The passengers and the crew of the Akademik Shokalsky together prepared the landing site for the Chinese helicopter, tamping down the snow. The rescue operation was planned just for the New Year, but due to heavy snowfall it had to be postponed for 2 days. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
On Thursday, January 2, 2014, the long-awaited rescue operation in Antarctica was successfully completed. A Chinese helicopter evacuated all researchers and tourists in small groups from the Russian ship Akademik Shokalsky, which was locked in ice, with a total of 52 people. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
By the way, the Chinese helicopter is our Ka-32A11BC. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
Passengers wait in line at Akademik Shokalsky while the first groups are evacuated by helicopter, December 2, 2014. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
On "Akademik Shokalsky" there were 22 crew members who did not abandon the ship. They are being helped by the American icebreaker Polar Star, which is not hindered by multi-meter ice. True, he will not arrive in Antarctica until next week. The crew of the Russian ship will have enough food and water for another month. (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
(AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
The rescued 52 passengers ended up on board the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis, but the unexpected happened and the Australian ship had to make an unplanned stop: the same Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon, which also took part in the rescue operation, prevents it from moving on. he himself got stuck in the multi-meter ice of Antarctica. The icebreaker Aurora Australis still managed to find a workaround and is now heading for Tasmania.
Chinese icebreaker "Snow Dragon". (Photo by Reuters):
View from "Akademik Shokalsky". (AFP Photo | Andrew Peacock):
UPD. On January 7, the Russian ship "Akademik Shokalsky" was freed from ice captivity. It was not icebreakers that saved him - they could not get through to the ship - but the weather. The wind changed direction and a wide crack formed in the ice.
