中俄船隻衝出南極浮冰區

Reports from Antarctica say a Chinese icebreaker and a Russian research vessel broke free Tuesday from thick ice, with both vessels moving toward open waters.

China's official Xinhua news agency, reporting from on board the Xue Long, said the ship reached open waters late Tuesday Beijing time after spending nearly a week icebound. The breaker became trapped and isolated after using one of its helicopters to rescue passengers from the stranded Russian research ship Akademik Shokalskiy.

The Russian vessel left New Zealand November 28 trying to recreate Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's century-old voyage to Antarctica, before getting stuck December 24. The Chinese breaker got stuck after rescuing the Russian vessel's 52 passengers.

Authorities said late Tuesday the services of U.S. Coast Guard ice breaker Polar Star, dispatched earlier this week to help, were no longer needed. The ship will now continue on its original resupply mission to a key U.S. base on the frozen continent.來自南極的報道說，中國破冰船“雪龍號”和俄羅斯科學考察船“紹卡利斯基院士號”星期二衝出浮冰區，駛入淨水域。

中國官方的新華社從“雪龍號”報道說，這艘破冰船困在浮冰區將近一星期後，於北京時間星期二晚間駛入淨水域。 “雪龍號”上的直升機營救受困的“紹卡利斯基院士號”上的52名乘客後，這艘破冰船困在浮冰中。

“紹卡利斯基院士號”去年11月28日從新西蘭啓航，試圖重走澳大利亞探險家莫森在1百年前的南極航程，於12月24日困在南極浮冰區。

有關當局星期二晚間說，美國海岸警衛隊的破冰船“北極星號”本星期早些時候奉命啓航救援，而現在已無必要，所以將繼續執行原來的任務，爲南極的一個美國基地運送給養。