South Korean Araon escorted troubled Sparta out to open water
The South Korean icebreaker Araon has cleared the pathway in the ice filed and escorted the stricken Russian fishing ship Sparta to open water, RIA Novosti reports.
The Sparta crew will remain on board for a while and then the trawler will sail to the port of Lyttelton (NZ) for further repairs.
The ship’s crew issued a distress call on December 16, when the Sparta hit an iceberg and stranded alongside the Antarctic ice shelf, some 3700km southeast of New Zealand, NZHerald reported.
The 32 crew have since struggled to pump water out of the damaged ship and keep it afloat as they waited for emergency repair supplies.