16 February 2015 – 4.50pm

Ice-bound fishing vessel reaches open water in Antarctica

The Australian-flagged fishing vessel Antarctic Chieftain has now reached open water in Antarctica and rendezvoused with New Zealand fishing boat Janas, around 40 nautical miles (75km) clear of the ice.

The Antarctic Chieftain will now head to Nelson under its own steam after it was escorted through ice for three days by the United States Coast Guard icebreaker CGC Polar Star.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) coordinated the rescue of the vessel, which became trapped after damaging three of the four blades of its propeller and requesting assistance on Wednesday, 11 February.

The Janas is likely to accompany the Antarctic Chieftain for around two days as its performance in open water is assessed. It is currently travelling at around 7knots (13km/h) and has around 2400 nautical miles (4445km) to travel to Nelson. Depending on weather conditions, this could take up around two weeks. Twice daily reports will be made to the RCCNZ.

The Polar Star is now resuming its voyage home to Seattle.

RCCNZ Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator Dave Wilson said the operation to free the vessel from the ice had been challenging.

“The crew of the Polar Star and the U.S Coast Guard have done an outstanding job and we’d like to thank them all for their efforts. They’ve worked around-the-clock in extreme conditions to bring theAntarctic Chieftain to safer waters,” he said.

“We’d also like to thank the captain and crew of the Janas for making themselves available to provide assistance.”

The Polar Star made its way through the ice to reach the Antarctic Chieftain early on Saturdaymorning. After breaking the ice around the Antarctic Chieftain, the crew of the Polar Star deployed an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) to assess the extent of the propeller damage and whether the Antarctic Chieftain was capable of making way through the ice under its own power.

The Polar Star crew assessed the Antarctic Chieftain’s propeller blades as too badly damaged for the vessel to be able to use them for propulsion during the first part of the journey from the ice field.

The icebreaker then cut a path through the heavy ice and then rigged up a tow line and began to tow the Antarctic Chieftain through the ice pack, making steady progress. The Polar Star released the tow with the Antarctic Chieftain at times to cut a track through the ice and the tow rope broke twice while the towing operation was underway.

The Antarctic Chieftain has a crew of 26 on board, 13 of which are New Zealanders.

The fishing boat’s hull is not damaged, and there has been no spill of oil from the vessel.

ENDS

US Coastguard photographs of the operation are available here: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1769235/polar-star-frees-vessel-antarctic-ice#.VOFYCTGUeCk

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