January 06, 2008
There Are Rescue Drops
A British deep-sea fishing boat which has been wedged in Antarctic pack ice for two weeks was running again last night after receiving an emergency airdrop.Two previous attempts to deliver a spare piston had failed...
Yesterday a US air force C-17 Globemaster finally managed to drop the replacement part on to pack ice beside the ship from 120 metres (400ft) overhead.
And there are RESCUE drops.
..."The US air force was fantastic. They offered to drop the package on the deck but I had visions of it smashing through the bridge.
"So they dropped it nearby on the ice with a large buoy and put a 20lb box of chocolates inside."
Life is like that.
Posted by tree hugging sister at January 6, 2008 09:45 PM
Comments
That's COOL! Except for the fact this was an ecologically unsound operation, to wit:
The 36-metre (118ft) vessel, which is registered in St Helena in the South Atlantic, is chartered for longlining for Patagonian toothfish - a creature sold as "Chilean sea bass" to American diners.
Said fish not only being an endangered species, it is a favorite dish of The Goreacle™.
Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at January 6, 2008 10:33 PM
Fish aside, anybody who delivers chocolate with their rescue is okay in my book.
Posted by: RebeccaH at January 7, 2008 03:16 PM
Also, note the tail-end of the article:
Conditions this year in the Antarctic have meant the area is almost entirely covered with ice, Thomson explained. "By January, normally there are a lot of icebergs but you can navigate around them," he said. "This year, it is still 95% covered with ice."
Hmm, colder than normal? Has anyone seen Al lately? Maybe he's on board getting his own hand-picked supply of fish.
Posted by: Dave E. at January 7, 2008 04:31 PM
Dave, I think Mother Gaia™ is punishing The Goreacle™ by cutting off access to His favorite fish flesh.
Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at January 7, 2008 05:35 PM