An ice-strengthened Russian cruise ship with 57 people on board is trapped in the ice in an isolated area off the coast of Antarctica.
The Akademik Shokalskiy, built in 1984 to conduct oceanic research, became stuck in the ice early Christmas morning nearly 1,500 nautical miles from Hobart, Tasmania, ABC News reported.
The ship sent out a distress signal to a British rescue coordination center. The call was then sent the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which takes care of the region where the ship is stuck, CNN reported.
"We've been in touch with the master of the vessel, who says they are beset by ice," Andrea Hayward-Maher, spokeswoman for the AMSA, told ABC News. "They are basically trapped or stuck in the ice and can't move."
Hayward-Maher also said they can't send regular aircraft or vessels to rescue the ship because it is too far from land. Three rescue ships with ice-breaking abilities are on their way, but it will take two days for them to reach the trapped ship.
"This is quite a complex and lengthy search-and-rescue operation because of the remote location of the area," the spokeswoman told ABC News.
The ship, with 35 passengers and a crew of 22, had sailed to the site of the 1911-1914 voyage of British explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, ABC News reported. The ship was stuck "part way through her Australasian Antarctic Expedition towards Mawson's Hut at Cape Denison," said the website for Expeditions Online, which sold tickets for the cruise, CNN reported.
"According to reports, nobody is in present danger," the website said.
Passengers on the boat also appear to be hopeful. They are reported to have enough supplies to last until they are rescued, according to ABC News.
"We're in the ice like the explorers of old! All are well and spirits are high. Happy Christmas," tweeted Australian professor Chris Turney.
