Chinese icebreaker arrives in Antarctica to free trapped ship

2013-12-27 1,621

Help for a Russian ship trapped in the Antarctic ice is almost there.

New video shows some of the 73 passengers and crew members celebrating at the arrival of a Chinese icebreaker.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) PROFESSOR OF CLIMATE CHANGE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, CHRIS TURNEY, SAYING:

"I'm not sure if you can see but just over my right shoulder is the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon. It turned up about an hour ago and it's making steady progress at around two knots. It should be alongside us, if all things go well in the next two to three hours. There's a lot of relief amongst the team and there's a lot of happy faces."

Strong winds pushed ice around the vessel on Christmas day, trapping the ship on all sides.

The ship is being used for a research expedition.

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