BEIJING: A Chinese ship broke free yesterday from Antarctic ice in which it became stuck after rescuing passengers from a trapped Russian vessel, state media reported.
The Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, “pulled free of the ice and navigated into the open waters”, said the official Xinhua news agency, which has a reporter on board the vessel.
According to state broadcaster China Central Television, the Xue Long spent 14 hours working to break through the ice and finally reached the open waters at 6pm Beijing time (1000 GMT).
The icebreaker had been trapped in the thick Antarctic floes since last Friday, and a westerly wind had been expected to give it its best chance of escaping, according to the China Daily newspaper. The wind was expected to help push away some of the heavy ice surrounding the ship, according to Xinhua, which noted that the biggest floes were three times thicker than its ice-breaking capacity.
The Xue Long’s helicopter last Thursday ferried 52 passengers on the stranded Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, which had been trapped for 10 days, to the safety of an Australian vessel.
The 52, who spent Christmas and New Year stranded aboard the ship in Antarctica’s Commonwealth Bay, were due to arrive at Australia’s Casey research base last night, with a return to Australia expected in two weeks.
“Its performance, especially the success in rescuing all the passengers, has been given the thumbs up by global public opinion,” the Global Times said in an editorial on the Xue Long’s rescue of the Shokalskiy passengers.
“China should be proud of it.”
“Xue Long’s mission is an epitome of China’s attitude toward its international obligations,”
it added. AFP
