Stricken Aussies rescued from Antarctica

Eleven Australians have been plucked from a stricken cruise ship in Antarctica and are on their way to dry land. The cruise ship, with 122 people on board, hit rocks and ruptured some of its fuel
tanks on Thursday.

It's still stuck on the rocks and is leaking diesel fuel into the surrounding
pristine waters.
A Chilean navy ship rescued the stranded passengers on Friday morning, local time,
and will soon arrive at a remote Antarctic island which has a runway.
The passengers will be flown from there to the Argentinian town of Ushuaia, from
where they can return home.
Steve Wellmeier, spokesman for Antarctic tour operators, said the passengers were
safe and well.
"There were no problems with passengers," Mr Wellmeier told AAP.
"There was no water in the passenger areas, the vessel was still intact."
But salvaging the ship was proving more of a problem.
"They're still trying to figure out how to get it off the rocks," said Mr Wellmeier,
who is the executive director of the US-based International Association of
Antarctica Tour Operators.
He was worried about the environmental impact of the fuel leak spreading from the
Ciudad de Ushuaia cruise ship.
"Of course, it's a concern to all the operators, it's a concern to the governing
body of the Antarctic treaty, it's a concern to the average citizen."
This is the third cruise ship disaster in Antarctica in two seasons. In the most
alarming incident, a Canadian ship with 154 aboard hit an iceberg and sank, forcing
the occupants onto lifeboats and causing a massive fuel slick.
Mr Wellmeier defended the surge in tourism to Antarctica, saying in general there
were very few safety scares, and the tours created "ambassadors" for one of the
world's last great wildernesses.
"We look it as an opportunity to educate people about this place," he said.
"(Tourism operators) love to bring their passengers to this wonderful area to
experience it."
Attempting to curtail tourism would make it an elitist experience, he said.