Thick ice complicates ship rescue operation in Antarctica

An operation on releasing the German ship Magdalena Oldendorff from Antarctic ice captivity, begun a week ago by the Argentinian Navy's ice-cutter Almirante Irizar, was halted Monday because of bad weather and the exceptionally thick ice on the scene. Helicopters taking off from board the Argentinian ship are constantly in the air over the spot of the operation to project a route of further movement.

The command of the Argeninian ice-cutter are yet in difficulty to even forecast the time which will be required to pilot the German ship across thousands of kilometres of Antarctic ice. When there is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the Antarctic regions are almost entirely covered by ice until the end of September.

The unfortunate Magdalena which carried Russian polar explorers heading home after an Arctic mission was squeezed by Arctic ice on June 11, 2002. In the end of July, 78 Russian experts and 11 members of the crew were helicoptered to the board of the South African oceanic vessel S.A.Agulhas, dispatched to the assistance of the Magdalena, to be successfully delivered to the Capetown harbour on July 10.