A day after the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long rescued 52 passengers off a stranded Russian boat in the Antarctic, the Chinese crew said that they themselves might be trapped in ice.
According to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which has been coordinating the rescue attempts, the Chinese crew says the Xue Long could be ice bound. The AMSA has put the Aurora Australis, one of the ships sent to rescue passengers off the Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, on standby in case the Xue Long needs help.