Tourists aboard a polar research vessel will spend New Year awaiting rescue, after got stuck in Antarctic ice, dpa quoted Australian officials as saying. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority dispatched three ships after receiving a distress call from the Russian-registered ship Wednesday. The Finnish-built MV Akademik Shokalskiy, with about 50 passengers and 20 crew aboard, is icebound 2,778 kilometres south of the Australian city of Hobart. Officials said the ship was not in danger but that it would take at least two days for help to arrive. The ice-strengthened oceanographic research vessel built for polar exploration has 26 berths set aside for tourists to join as members of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The tourists booked through Expeditions Online, which is based in Tyreso, Sweden.
