Cape Town, July 11: More than a month after their ship was trapped by ice near Antarctica, 89 relieved scientists and crew members sailed into cape town today aboard the south African ship that rescued them. The German-owned Magdalena Oldendorff had been headed to Cape Town from the Novolazarevskaya station in northeast Antarctica when it came across an ice drift and was forced to seek shelter in a local bay. Stranded in the ice, the Russian scientists and German crew had to endure temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) and howling winds, as they waited for help. "I was scared at first, but after two or three days we knew we would be rescued", said Boris Batashevich, a Russian doctor. "The situation was not so bad. We had two months of fuel (and) one month of food".
Batashevich, who passed the time doing research and reading, was nonetheless delighted to be heading home.
The South African rescuers sailed from cape town on the polar supply vessel the Sa Agulhas and used two specially modified Oryx military helicopters to ferry the 78 Russian scientists and 11 German crew members from the stricken vessel.

Eighteen crew members remained aboard the trapped vessel to help with maintenance and assist when the argentine icebreaker Almirante Irizar arrives to clear a path for it through the ice. The icebreaker was expected to arrive Thursday.

Bureau Report