Aurora Australis runs aground in Antarctica
The icebreaker gets into trouble during an intense blizzard near Mawson Station. Vision courtesy Australian Antarctic Division.
PT0M53S 620 349Australia is looking to the US and China for help after discovering damage to the national icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, which remains stuck on Antarctic rocks in gale force winds with 68 people aboard.
The crew found the hull of the ship had been breached, flooding water into an area used for ballast water. The Australian Antarctic Division said there was no risk to the icebreaker's stability, or of it leaking fuel.
The ship ran aground in Horseshoe Harbour at Mawson research station on Wednesday afternoon after its moorings broke in winds that reached 176km/h.
The Aurora Australis in less hostile conditions. Photo: Mike Zupanc, Australian Antarctic Division
Video from Mawson station, released by the Australian Antarctic Division, showed blizzard conditions that reduced visibility to near zero.
Division director Nick Gales said all those on board were safe, but the ship had listed slightly. A full damage assessment would not be possible until the storm passed.
He said it showed the unpredictability of working in Antarctica. "It is a dangerous environment, it changes a lot, incidents occur, so we do have a very mature process for dealing with things like this," Dr Gales said in Hobart.
Mawson research station at Horseshoe Harbour. Photo: Christopher Wilson
Contingencies being considered include re-directing a Chinese icebreaker to Mawson.
"We're aware that the Chinese icebreaker the Xue Long has just left Casey research station. [It] is within a few days of the area so we're in discussions with the Chinese among other national programs," Dr Gales said.
The US has stepped in to help more than 30 people at Davis station who had been waiting on the Aurora Australis to pick them up for the return trip to Tasmania. The US has offered to fly them from Davis to Casey, where they will meet the Australian Antarctic Division's A319 airbus.
The majority of the ship's cargo had been unloaded when it ran aground. It had been due to visit Davis station before returning to Hobart mid next month.
In a statement issued late on Thursday, the Antarctic division said P&O Maritime, the ship's owner, had advised it would take at least three days for a full assessment once it was afloat again. It was too early to say if it would be able to complete its original planned voyage.
The Aurora Australis is 27 years old. The federal government announced last year a new icebreaker would start operation in late 2019. It is expected to cost $1 billion across its lifetime.
