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Antarctica rescuers fear stranding
1/3/2014 8:13:03 AM
- Australia: The Xue Long is worried about its "ability to move through heavy ice"
- The Chinese ship's helicopter helped rescue 52 passengers Thursday
- The Australian icebreaker carrying the rescued people is on standby in the area
- The passengers were rescued from a Russian ship stuck in ice since Christmas
(CNN) -- Are the rescuers going to need rescuing?
A Chinese icebreaker whose helicopter on Thursday airlifted dozens of passengers stranded on a ship stuck in the Antarctic ice is now worried about its own situation.
The Chinese vessel, the Xue Long, "has concerns about their ability to move through heavy ice in the area," Australian authorities, who coordinated the previous rescue efforts, said Friday.
As a result, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it has placed the Australian ship carrying the rescued passengers on standby in case the Xue Long needs help.
The Australian icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, will remain in open water near the area "as a precautionary measure," AMSA said.
The Chinese ship plans to try to get out of the thick ice early Saturday at a point when tidal conditions are most favorable, according to AMSA. The agency said there is "no immediate danger" to the people on board the Xue Long.
The concerns about the Chinese vessel come the day after its helicopter ferried all 52 passengers from an ice-locked Russian vessel to the Aurora Australis.
The Russian ship, the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, had been trapped in unusually deep ice since Christmas Eve with scientists, journalists, tourists and crew members on board.
The rescued passengers, most of them Australians, will still have a lengthy wait before they return home. Officials say they estimate the Aurora Australis will get the group back to the Australian by mid-January.
The 22 Russian crew members remain on the Akademik Shokalskiy, waiting for the ice to shift and allow the ship to break free.
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