Aurora Australis is forced to abandon bit to rescue stricken Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy from ice TORRID weather has forced rescue icebreaker Aurora Australis back into open water. Passengers aboard the stricken MV Akademik Shokalskiy have been told to prepare for the "worst case scenario" and may now have to abandon ship two weeks into their month-long trip of a lifetime to the Antarctic. The Aurora battled its way through the freezing conditions and had come within 10 nautical miles of the Russian passenger ship, which has been wedged in a 20 nautical mile wide ice floe since Christmas Eve. But 30-knot winds and driving snow has forced the rescue icebreaker to turn back. "These weather conditions have resulted in poor visibility and made it difficult and unsafe for the Aurora Australis to continue (the) attempt to assist the MV Akademik Shokalskiy," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement. Further attempts may be made by the vessel in due course to undertake the rescue once weather conditions improve. The Aurora Australis made it within 10 nautical miles of the MV Akademik Shokalskiy but is now located in open waters about 18 nautical miles east of the Russian vessel. At this time, it is also unsafe to attempt to launch the helicopter from the Chinese vessel which was tasked by the AMSA's Rescue Coordination Centre to remain in the area. The Finnish-built Shokalskiy has 74 people on board, including 26 tourists, 22 Russian crew, four UK journalists and 22 scientists from Australia and New Zealand hoping to recreate Sir Douglas Mawson's epic Antarctic expedition to Commonwealth Day. An earlier attempt by Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon to reach the ship was also abandoned on Saturday when it, too, encountered impenetrable ice. It was hoped the Aurora, with its higher icebreaking rating, would be able to cut its way through but an Antarctic "white out" was making for slow progress. "The area is currently experiencing snow showers, resulting in poor visibility," AMSA spokeswoman Lisa Martin said earlier today. The expedition is being led by University of NSW Professor Chris Turney who continues to post updates on social media. On Sunday, after conditions eased and temperatures reached 2C, he said cracks in the ice had begun appearing around the ship. But with a return of inclement weather he said a satellite report "shows mass breakout of old sea ice from other side of Mertz Glacier" - the same direction as the choking ice floes which trapped the Shokalskiy a week ago at Cape de la Motte. "Wind picked and it's snowing as forecast for this am Good news: Aurora making attempt from E [east]" he posted yesterday. If the Aurora fails in further attempts the last option will be to airlift the passengers out by a helicopter on board the Snow Dragon. According to his blog UK science journalist Alok Jha aboard the Shokalskiy said passengers were given daily briefings on the rescue mission with some asking questions about how the evacuation would work. He said they also asked how many possessions they would be allowed to take and how they could contact family and airlines back home, given the ship's limited telecommunications. "If the joint efforts of the Aurora Australis and [Snow Dragon] don't work, the only other option will be to evacuate the ship by air, though this would be the absolute worst case scenario," he posted.