Sparta, Damaged Russian Fishing Ship, Gets Repairs Off Antarctica

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Repairs were going well on a damaged Russian fishing ship listing in frigid waters off Antarctica for 11 days, New Zealand authorities said.

The Sparta hit underwater ice Dec. 16 that tore a 1-foot (30-centimeter) hole in its hull, and heavy ice in the Ross Sea prevented help from arriving until Monday.

Before the South Korean icebreaker Araon arrived, the Sparta's crew had been desperately pumping out near-frozen sea water and some had boarded life rafts.

New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Center said good progress was made on internal repairs but the external damage could not be repaired for safety reasons. The work still is expected to make the Sparta seaworthy, and both ships are expected to leave the area Wednesday.

The Araon, a polar research ship, then is expected to escort the Sparta to ice-free open ocean, the center said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

The Sparta's crew has 15 Russians, 16 Indonesians and one Ukrainian.

The survival drama on the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf is taking place about 2,200 miles (3,700 kilometers) southeast of New Zealand.

Comments

[mamacat]

02:37 AM on 12/28/2011

I guess it is lucky for them that it is now summer in Antarctica.

[Richard2]

12:09 PM on 12/27/2011

"The survival drama on the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf is taking place about 2,200 miles (3,700 kilometers) southeast of New Zealand."

That Antarctic Sea Ice Extent is currently greater than the average sea ice extent over the 1979-2000 period measured by satellites. Somehow this fact is rarely presented in news articles. Why is that?

[mamacat]

02:52 AM on 12/28/2011

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/sea_ice_south.php

NASA's website gives pictures and data. Minimum antarctic sea ice will not be until February, which is the height of their summer. The satellite photos and the data show that there is not an unusual amount of sea ice. Look for yourself.

For decades now, the massive continental glaciers have been melting, temporarily, and locally, reducing the salinity in the surrounding water. If there is a 1% increase in the ocean ice-pack, for this time of year, it is far outweighed by the reduction in the ice volume on land, and may be explained by the massive runoff of fresh water into the seas around Antarctica. Fresh water freezes at a higher temperature than salt water.