A Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules flew to Antarctica on Saturday evening to drop emergency equipment to the Russian ship Sparta. The ship hit ice on Friday morning and got a 30cm hole in the side. The crew tried to fix the hole but were not successful so they radioed for help. There are no ships nearby.
The Hercules dropped fuel, a pump, pipes, and other equipment. The Air Force crew stayed at Scott Base over night. Meanwhile the ship is at a 13 degree angle.
Christchurch will send an icebreaker ship but it will take eight days to arrive. The Sparta is a 48m fishing ship with 32 crew on board. It was fishing for southern toothfish. The ice around the ship is 1.5m thick.
Listen to December 13th 2010 to hear about problems with other fishing ships in Antarctica.
Questions
What do you know about Antarctica at this time of year? Why could the Hercules fly at night?