Published 11:04 IST, November 27th 2019
Australia to help French researcher team stranded in Antarctic
A team of French researchers were stranded at a research station situated off the coast of Antarctica, however, Australia is sending an icebreaker to help them
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Australia will now send an icebreaker to help out the stranded French researchers of the Dumont d'Urville research station situated on a tiny cluster islands just off the Antarctic coast. The French research crew had endured a long and extended winter and were looking forward to being relieved, but the French Icebreaker which was set to provide them with fresh supplies and a new batch of researchers broke down.
Help is finally on the way for the weary researcher
On November 15, France's Polar Institute announced that one of the propellers on the French icebreaker L'Astrolabe which was on its way to Dumont d'Urville research station was damaged. The Captain of the L'Astrolabe, Celine Tuccelli said that on the ice they could not afford to take any risks with the lives of their passengers. 42 Researchers in total are stranded on in the research station which is placed on a tiny cluster of islands just off the Antarctic coast. Fortunately for the researchers and the waiting crew aboard the French icebreaker, Australia is now coming to the rescue. The Australian government has promised to send out another icebreaker to the research facility with the stranded researchers as well as another vessel to another French-Italian research base at Concordia. The Australian ship called the Aurora Australis is expected to push south early December in hopes of bringing the weary explorers home.
Mais oui! @AusAntarctic is happy to help @_IPEV resupply their station Dumont d’Urville and French-Italian station Concordia after damage to their icebreaker L’Astrolabe. Our icebreaker is en route to Hobart before heading south again to assist.https://t.co/STp5HJiMOm
— antarctica.gov.au (@AusAntarctic) November 20, 2019
📷R Butler pic.twitter.com/qhcBug4RiC
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It was not only people aboard the research station that celebrated the news from Australia, even the replacement about the French icebreaker celebrated the news as it would mean that they would be able to continue their research and journey to Antarctica after this hiccup. French meteorologist François Gourand celebrated the news on Twitter by stating how happy he was that they would be able to continue after Australian assistance.
(With inputs from agencies)
10:21 IST, November 27th 2019