TAISHAN, China — Australian officials have asked a US icebreaker to help with the rescue of Chinese and Russian vessels that are surrounded by ice floes in Antarctica, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
The officials Sunday said the US Coast Guard was sending a ship, the Polar Star. It will be part of an increasingly complex set of issues for international vessels that have found themselves struggling against unfavorable ice and weather conditions in Antarctica.
A news release from the Australian authorities said the Polar Star had been en route to Antarctica since Dec. 3. Its original mission was to clear a shipping channel in McMurdo Sound to the National Science Foundation’s Scientific Research Station.
The channel is used by resupply ships to deliver food, fuel, and other goods to the station. Australian officials said the US icebreaker would continue that mission after the rescue operation was over.
On Friday, Australian officials said the Chinese ship, the Snow Dragon, had notified the authorities that it might be trapped by ice, one day after the Chinese used a helicopter from the ship to rescue 52 passengers from the Russian ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, which had become trapped Dec. 24. The passengers were scientists, tourists, and journalists who made up the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
Those passengers were taken to an Australian icebreaker, the Aurora Australis. The 22 crew members of the Russian ship had said they would remain on board their vessel and leave Antarctica once ice conditions improved.