Antarctica: Passengers on the stranded Russian ship to be airlifted

Antarctica, Jan 1:Tourists and scientists aboard the Russian MV Akademik Shokalskiy, stranded in Antarctica since Christmas, may be attempted to evacuate through an airlift.

As all attempts failed to reach the stranded through an icebreaker, attempts would be made to airlift them to an Australian icebreaker.

Meanwhile, the Chinese ship and Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis have been maintaining a strict vigil off the Antarctic coast, 2700km south of Hobart, and are waiting to transfer passengers and expeditioners from the Russian-flagged ship.

A spokeswoman from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said that the weather conditions in the area were extremely adverse, which did not allow the airlift operation yesterday.

Nevertheless, back in the ship, morales of the passengers were high as they coped with adverse situations and climatic conditions. Its been 8 days now since they have been stuck.

OneIndia News