Waiting For Helicopter Rescue
By Paul Homewood
http://news.yahoo.com/anxious-wait-stranded-antarctic-ship-034404267.html
From AFP:
Sydney (AFP) – Most passengers and some crew from a scientific expedition ship stranded off Antarctica will be evacuated by helicopter to a Chinese icebreaker if weather conditions improve, Russia said Monday.
Authorities decided to resort to the helicopter evacuation after the Aurora Australis rescue icebreaker was forced to retreat in the face of freezing winds and snow showers 10 nautical miles from the Russian-flagged MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which is stuck in an ice field.
Thick ice had earlier prevented both the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long and a French icebreaker from reaching the stranded crew.
"A decision has been reached to evacuate 52 passengers and four crew members by helicopter from China’s Xue Long ship, should the weather allow," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The MV Akademik Shokalskiy has been stuck on an ice field since last week with 74 people on board. The multinational passenger list includes scientists as well as tourists and crew.
Earlier Monday, the Australian Maritime Authority said the area where the ship was trapped was experiencing winds of up to 30 knots and snow showers.
"These weather conditions have resulted in poor visibility and made it difficult and unsafe for the Aurora Australis to continue today’s attempt to assist the MV Akademik Shokalskiy."
The authority also said earlier Monday it was "unsafe to attempt to launch the helicopter from the Chinese vessel" given the weather, but further rescue attempts could be made once the weather improves.
Australia’s rescue coordination centre is in regular contact with the ship, which has been stationary 100 nautical miles east of the French base Dumont D’Urville since December 24.
Its passengers, who had been following in the Antarctic footsteps of Australian Sir Douglas Mawson and his 1911-1914 expedition, remain safe and well on their well-provisioned vessel, the safety authority said.
Earlier, the Aurora Australis had been forced to return to the open sea, for fear that it too would be trapped in the ice.
Captain Murray Doyle said his ship’s master made the call to turn around and move back into open water about midday Australian time.
”The ice became too thick for us to penetrate. Some of the floes are up to two metres of ice with a metre of snow on top and very compact. There was just nowhere for us to go,” Captain Doyle said.
He also feared that the 55-kilometre south-easterly wind running up the ship’s stern would blow ice in and around the back of the vessel.
”It was pushing those same types of floes in behind us,” he said.
”If we got into that compact stuff, it would have sealed us in. We would have lost our manoeuvrability and we wouldn’t have been much use to anybody.”
He added: ”Having been caught in ice before, I know by experience when to get out. I didn’t want to add to the drama instead of being part of the solution.”
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Henry Ford once said something like “Experience is the best teacher.”
For climatologists who believe their models determine Earth’s climate, experience is probably their only hope for recovery.
If they can’t bring the helicopter onto the ship, one thing to consider perhaps would be to have the passengers leave the ship. If the ice is too dicey, of course this isn’t an option. But it might be. Looking at the photo above, someone has already gone out onto the ice (to take the photo). Out in the open the helicopter has more options and less risk by far.
Yeah, 55-mph winds is no weather for helicopters.
about 34 mph; units?
The wind is 55 kilometre long (or wide or high) but no mention of its velocity.
They should be all left where they are. On that ship are all Warmist, they are there to promote the phony GLOBAL warming. All Warmist and most of the ”Skeptics” believe that now is warmer than 100y ago; if Douglas was able to go there 100y ago without problem – should be easier now, under their theory.
Leave them there, to learn the hard way – knowledge obtained the hard way is the most valuable. leave them there – don’t risk the helicopter pilot’s life
Merry Christmas to everybody!.
It is summer there now. Not exactly suitable for fun in the sun, even for the far northern reaches of the supposedly thawing continent.
It’s all because GW is making more ice fall off the land and trapping them, doncha know? Or so they say.