Chinese icebreaker stalled en route to rescue stranded ship in Antarctica

-- A Chinese icebreaker heading to free a polar expedition vessel trapped in an Antarctic ice floe got stopped by the ice and weather, its captain told CNN.

"Right now we are waiting for winds to blow ice away so we can move closer," he said. "The current ice condition is exceeding our capabilities to break through further."

The expedition to gauge the effects of climate change on the region began November 27 got stuck in the ice on Monday night.

The irony being that there are mid summer conditions in Antarctica, amidst cooler than normal sea water for almost the entire southern hemisphere polar region [link to weather.unisys.com]

Full story at [link to edition.cnn.com]