Stranded Antarctic passengers evacuated to freedom

Sydney:  All 52 passengers who spent Christmas and New Year trapped on an icebound Russian research vessel in Antarctica were airlifted from the ice on Thursday in a dramatic rescue mission. A Chinese helicopter which landed on a makeshift landing pad next to the marooned ship ferried the scientists, tourists and journalists in groups of 12 to an Australian government supply ship, the Aurora Australis. The passengers had been stuck for 10 days in thick pack ice 100 nautical miles east of the French base of Dumont d'Urville after their vessel Akademik Shokalskiy became frozen in place. Three icebreaking ships had been unable to clear a path to it. "Aurora Australis has advised AMSA that the 52 passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy are now on board," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said late on Thursday. Expedition leader Chris Turney expressed his "great relief" that the complex operation, which had been fraught with setbacks and challenges, finally went off without a hitch.   AFP