WELLINGTON - A Russian fishing vessel in Antarctica has evacuated some crew members onto lifeboats after taking on water and other crew are trying to patch up a hole in its hull, New Zealand rescue authorities said on Friday.
The 48-metre (157-feet) Sparta, which carries a crew of 32, issued a mayday distress call from the southern oceans next to the Antarctic ice shelf around 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) southeast of New Zealand.
The ship is reported to have a list of around 13 degrees and is pumping water out but is in no immediate danger of sinking.
"The crew has managed to keep up with the ingress of water. They have also attached a tarpaulin on the outside of the hull which is helping slow the rate of water into the hold," said search and rescue mission coordinator Ramon Davis.
"They have asked us to supply them with more pumps to allow them to increase the pumping speed, and also provide backup to the pumps they are already working with," he added.
Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) said there were no suitable ships nearby to help, with the closest ones hampered by heavy sea ice.
Ships capable of breaking through sea ice were at least four days away, but an American Hercules plane from the McMurdo Station research base had flown over the ship to assess ice conditions.
Davis said Sparta was in an area clear of ice, with the thickness of surrounding ice put at up to 1.5 metres.
Some of the crew were in lifeboats, while the weather in the area was said to be calm and relatively mild.
The crew of 15 Russians, 16 Indonesians and a Ukrainian are said to have special clothing and other resources to cope with Antarctica’s extreme weather.
