Three icebreakers were successively unable to rescue the russian ship, itself built in Finland in 1982 and "fully ice-strengthened " for arctic and antarctic seas.
After the failed attempts of one chinese and one french middle-class icebreakers to reach the Shokalskiy, a stronger and powerful australian ship, the Aurora Australis, was called from Casey, where it was anchored for the usual summer supply, to help release the russian / australian team and crew:
But no ship is prepared for zero visibility. A dense blizzard stopped the Aurora Australis just after it entered the frozen seas, some 10 miles from the Shokalskiy. No rescue could be done in such conditions.
Too thick, damn !
At least, they are having some fun in the antarctic Summer:
What an unexpected Ultima Thule there!
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The End: