China says it plans for a new icebreaker, now in the design stage, to be ready to begin polar research operations in 2014.
The home-produced vessel will team up with the Xue Long — Snow Dragon — currently China's only icebreaker, which was purchased from the Ukraine in 1993.
The Xue Long recently returned to its base in Shanghai after completing its 28th expedition to the Antarctic, officials from the Polar Research Institute of China said.
The new vessel would be designed by China in consultation with other countries with greater experience in icebreakers and built in China, institute officials said.
"It will be a real icebreaker, since Xue Long was a transport ship converted for polar work," Weng Lixin told the Shanghai Daily.
"The new icebreaker will be equipped with the most advanced appliances for marine, polar and astronomical research," Weng said.
Chile navy rescues four from Antarctic ship
Santiago (AFP) April 9, 2012 –
Four Brazilians filming a documentary off the Antarctic coast were rescued by the Chilean navy after their ship became stuck in the ice, Chilean media said Monday.
Officials told the daily El Mercurio that the four Brazilians were safe and sound after their vessel Mar Sem Fim (Endless Sea) was trapped in icy, windy conditions near the Chilean Antarctic naval base.
The boat capsized in 100-kilometer (60 mile) per hour winds on Saturday near the Chilean base, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) south of tip of South America, said the head of Chilean base in Antarctica, Eduardo Rubilar.
The ship was carrying four Brazilians filming on a documentary about navigation and the landscape of Antarctica.
Joao Lara, journalist and leader of the Brazilian expedition, praised the navy for the "risky maneuver" and said "they handled the situation in a controlled manner when the wind was very strong."
The Brazilians were taken to the southern Chilean port of Punta Arenas.
Chilean officials said it will monitor the area for a possible oil leak and will attempt to refloat the vessel in the summer season.
