© Andrew Peacock /Rex FeaturesAlok Jha and Laurence Topham look on at the Akademik Shokalskiy beset in ice in East Antarctica.
The voyage was meant to retrace the steps of Douglas Mawson, the great polar explorer and scientist who led the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911. What happened instead captured the world's attention, something none of the scientists, journalists and paying public aboard could have foreseen.
The
Akademik Shokalskiy got stuck in ice on Christmas Day 2013 only two weeks after leaving New Zealand. A rescue mission swung into operation. Chinese, French and Australian icebreakers hurried to the scene only to be defeated by the ice floes themselves.
News editors around the world must have thanked their chosen gods. Into the seasonal dead zone, a real story had dropped. Stranded far from home, those aboard the Shokalskiy faced danger amidst the spectacular ice.
That New Year's Eve an interview with expedition leader Chris Turney was beamed live to Times Square in New York. Two days later, the rescue effort entered a new phase. With no icebreaker able to smash its way through, a Chinese helicopter, Xue Ying, or "Snow Eagle", rose into the air for the first of five flights to ferry passengers from the stricken ship to the
Aurora Australis. A core crew remained behind to sail vessel home once conditions allowed.
Comment: That darned climate change won't stop reminding us how much the weather will change for the colder.