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Rescue workers make their way from a helicopter to the Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been trapped in Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve, at Commonwealth Bay in East Antarctica, 100 nautical miles (185 km) east of French Antarctic station Dumont D'Urville and about 1,500 nautical miles (2,800km) south of Australia's southern island state of Tasmania, in this still image taken from video shot by expedition leader Chris Turney, professor of Climate Change at the University of New South Wales, on Jan 2, 2014. The Chinese helicopter has reached a Russian ship stranded in Antarctica for nine days and is beginning to pick up 52 passengers who spent Christmas and the New Year trapped in ice, Turney said on Thursday. [Photo/Agencies]
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ABOARD XUELONG - Chinese helicopter
Xueying 12 on board the icebreaker
Xuelong has embarked on its second flight Thursday to transfer part of the passengers aboard a Russian vessel stuck in sea ice off Antarctica to an Australian rescue ship, said a Xinhua reporter aboard
Xuelong.
The flight was taken after a first one that examined the conditions around the stranded ship to prepare for the landing of the helicopter on ice.