The Araon set to rescue a Russian fishing boat

The Araon, a Korean-made icebreaker, started its rescue mission of a Russian fishing boat named the “Sparta” at 5:10 PM on Dec. 25. The Sparta hit a glacier near the Antarctic.

The Araon lead the rescued boat to the IFZ (Ice Free Zone) by Dec. 27, breaking ice along the way. The Sparta underwent repairs between the 25th and 26th, supported by the Araon. At first, the Araon was set to arrive on its rescue destination around noon on the 25th (Korean time) after making contact with the Sparta's sister “Chiyou Maru III.”

The Chiyou Maru III is equipped with vessel repair gear.

However, despite the breaking of ice of the Araon along the way, the Chiyou Maru III still couldn’t proceed smoothly, so it had to be moved to the IFZ first before the Araon resumed its voyage toward the shipwreck area, which delayed the Araon’s arrival on the spot.

Because the damaged area is located at the bottom of the wrecked vessel submerged underwater, it is hard to carry out repairs as it is. To solve this problem, some of the Sparta's fuel was transferred to the Araon to make that submerged part float above water for easy repairing.

On the other hand, upon receiving reports from the Araon about the rescue mission, Yedong Kim, the Chief of the Antarctic Station Construction Project at the Korean Antarctic center, briefed the Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs of Korea Do-youp Kwon on the situation.

The Minister inquired about the health status of the Russian sailors and praised the efforts of the Araon sailors. Also, he asked that until the safety of the sailors onboard the Sparta is fully secured, the rescue mission should proceed at full speed without a hitch with utmost efforts of the Korean rescuers.