Freedom for stranded Antarctic ship passengers

All 52 passengers who spent Christmas and New Year trapped on an icebound Russian research vessel in Antarctica were airlifted from the ice on January 2, 2014 in a dramatic rescue mission. A Chinese helicopter which landed on a makeshift landing pad next to the marooned ship ferried the scientists, tourists and journalists in groups of 12 to an Australian government supply ship, the Aurora Australis. The passengers were stranded for 10 days on the Russian ship.

In this December 27, 2013 file photo provided by Australasian Antarctic Expedition/Footloose Fotography, the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy is trapped in thick Antarctic ice 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, Australia.

The MV Akademik Shokalskiy is pictured stranded in ice in Antarctica on December 29, 2013.

In this photo provided China's official Xinhua News Agency, passengers from the trapped Russian vessel MV Akademik Shokalskiy, seen at right, prepare to board the Chinese helicopter Xueying 12 in the Antarctic on January 2, 2014.

In this photo provided China's official Xinhua News Agency, the first group of passengers who were aboard the trapped Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy arrive at a safe surface off the Antarctic on January 2, 2014.

In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, the first group of passengers who were aboard the trapped Russian vessel MV Akademik Shokalskiy arrive at a safe surface off the Antarctic on January 2, 2014.

In this photo provided China's official Xinhua News Agency, the first group of passengers of the trapped Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy arrive at a safe surface off the Antarctic on January 2, 2014.

In this photo provided China's official Xinhua News Agency, the first group of passengers aboard the trapped Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy arrive at a safe surface off the Antarctic on January 2, 2014.

A crew member of the Akademik Shokalskiy walks on the snow-covered aft deck of the stranded ship in the Antarctic on December 29, 2013.

Chris Fogwill (bottom) and Chris Turney, co-leaders of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, are pictured below deck in the front hold of the stranded Akademik Shokalskiy in Antarctica on December 30, 2013.

The Xue Long (Snow Dragon) Chinese icebreaker sits in the ice pack unable to get through to the Akademik Shokalskiy, in East Antarctica on December 28, 2013.

Barbara Tucker, a passenger aboard the trapped ship, looks at an Adelie penguin walking by on the ice off East Antarctica on December 29, 2013.

Professor Chris Turney, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, is pictured talking to international media from the top deck of the stranded ship in Antarctica on December 30, 2013.

Nicole De Losa, a passenger on board the stranded ship waves to a helicopter sent from the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long (Snow Dragon) to assess ice conditions around the Russian Ship, in East Antarctica on December 29, 2013.

A thin coat of snow covers the deck of the trapped ship Akademik Shokalskiy in East Antarctica on December 29, 2013.