MOSCOW (Sputnik) – In a previous update, the Division said 37 expeditioners have been successfully transferred to Mawson station by barge. The remaining 31 crew members remained on board for the refloating operation.
“The Aurora Australis has been successfully re-floated,” AAD tweeted, providing webcam footage of the ship’s northbound voyage as of mid-Friday.
The flagship icebreaker left the port of Hobart on January 11 for a marine research mission in Antarctic waters. It moored at Horseshoe Bay in Mawson Station on Saturday for supplies. It successfully unmoored on Wednesday, but ran aground in Horseshoe Bay during a blizzard.
Australian media said there were no leaks, but the ship suffered too much damage to continue with its resupply mission to the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.
