A RESCUE mission is still underway to help passengers on a Antarctic-bound cruiseliner which has been trapped by ice after a storm. 
 
 There are 50 tourists, including Australian scientists and explorers and 20 crew on the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which is on a Spirit of Mawson voyage along the edge of Antarctica. 
 
 They are in no immediate danger, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). 
 
 Those on board are said to be in fine spirits. 
 
 "The ship is reinforced against ice and well adapted to the conditions," said Alvin Stone, spokesman for voyage operators. He said those on board were in fine spirits and were enjoying Christmas. 
 
 Mr Stone said the storm was well-timed as those on board has just returned from a 60km trek across pack ice in Antarctica. The ship had sailed from New Zealand to visit several sites. The AMSA received a distress call on Christmas morning. 
 
 A spokeswoman said three ships had been sent to assist but it would take at least two days for the nearest vessel to reach the remote location - about 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart. "It's in quite a remote part of the world," she said. 
 
 "But we have everyone safe. The vessel isn't in any immediate danger." The ship's voyage is part of a research expedition to commemorate the centenary of Douglas Mawson's exploration. 
 
 Expedition leader Chris Turney didn't seem too bothered by being stranded. 
 
 He posted this Vine video of the ship on Twitter. 
 
 We're in the ice like the explorers of old! All are well and spirits are high. Happy Christmas from the AA... https://t.co/dIiKBnP6rz — Chris Turney (@ProfChrisTurney) December 25, 2013 
 
 He wrote in a Christmas Day tweet: "Heavy ice. Beautiful; light wind. Only -1degC. All well. Merry Xmas everyone from AAE." The privately funded expedition includes a trip to Mawson's Huts on Antarctica, which had been inaccessible for many years because of an iceberg. ||||| The Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy is shown trapped in thick Antarctic ice on Dec. 27, 2013. (Photo: Andrew Peacock, Australasian Antarctic Expedition/Footloose Fotography) Story Highlights The Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy has been trapped since Christmas Eve 
 
 Two icebreakers were unable to reach the ship. Another is due Sunday. 
 
 The ship isn't in danger of sinking, and there are ample supplies for passengers 
 
 Passengers aboard an ice-bound cruise ship trapped off the coast of Antarctica cheered Friday night when they spotted the Chinese ice-breaker Snow Dragon on the horizon. 
 
 "There's a lot of relief among the team and a lot of happy faces," said expedition leader Chris Turney in a video posted on YouTube. 
 
 However, the jubilance was short-lived. 
 
 The Snow Dragon icebreaker came within 7 miles of the stranded ship but had to retreat after the ice became too thick, expedition spokesman Alvin Stone told the Associated Press. France's L'Astrolabe made it to the edge of the sea ice surrounding the ship, too, but also called off its mission for the same reason. 
 
 Turney, professor of climate change at the University of New South Wales, Australia, has been tweeting and blogging the adventure, and has become a minor celebrity of sorts. Using tools unimaginable to adventurers who explored the frozen continent a century ago, his reports recorded in howling blizzard winds show the enthusiasm and nonchalance of a real-life Indiana Jones. 
 
 A third rescue vessel, Australian Antarctic Division vessel Aurora Australis, may have a better chance because it has a higher ice-breaking rating. 
 
 Aurora Australis is expected to arrive on Sunday, said Lisa Martin, spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the rescue. The Snow Dragon will remain in the area in case its help is needed. 
 
 "I think we're probably looking at another 24 hours of twiddling our fingers and waiting for something to happen," said Stone. 
 
 Other options include bringing in ice-crushing vessels or airplanes or helicopters. 
 
 The ship, located about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, Tasmania, became trapped Christmas Eve after a blizzard's whipping winds pushed sea ice around the vessel, freezing it in place. On Dec. 25, Turney tweeted "We're in the ice like the explorers of old! All are well and spirits are high. Happy Christmas." 
 
 The ship wasn't in danger of sinking, and there were ample supplies for the 74 scientists, tourists and crew on board. The trip, which left New Zealand on Nov. 28, is on a special research voyage to honor the 100th anniversary of famed Australian explorer Douglas Mawson. 
 
 The scientific team on board the vessel plan to continue their expedition after they are freed, Turney said. Passengers and crew have had to contend with blizzard conditions, including winds up to 40 miles per hour, but the weather had calmed considerably by Friday. 
 
 "The blizzard we had yesterday was quite extraordinary — it's not nice when you can feel the ship shaking," he said. 
 
 Despite the interruption to the expedition, the scientists have continued their research while stuck, counting birds in the area and drilling through the ice surrounding the ship to photograph sea life. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A long-awaited rescue of passengers on board a research ship that has been trapped in Antarctic ice for more than a week finally got underway on Thursday, with a helicopter scooping up the first group of passengers and flying them to a nearby vessel, expedition leaders said. 
 
 In this Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013 image provided by Australasian Antarctic Expedition/Footloose Fotography, passengers from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy trapped in the ice 1,500 nautical miles... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013 image provided by Australasian Antarctic Expedition/Footloose Fotography, Ben Maddison and Ben Fisk from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy work to place a wind indicator... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013 image provided by Australasian Antarctic Expedition/Footloose Fotography, passengers from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy link arms and stamp out a helicopter landing... (Associated Press) 
 
 The helicopter was originally going to airlift the passengers to a Chinese icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, with a barge then ferrying them to an Australian vessel. But sea ice was preventing a barge from reaching the Snow Dragon, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre, which is overseeing the rescue, said the operation would consequently be delayed. 
 
 A last-minute change in plans allowed the rescue to go ahead. The 52 scientists and tourists on board were instead being flown to an ice floe next to the Australian icebreaker the Aurora Australis, and then taken by a small boat to the Australian ship, expedition leader Chris Turney said. The maritime authority confirmed the first group arrived at the Aurora Thursday evening. 
 
 "I think everyone is relieved and excited to be going on to the Australian icebreaker and then home," Turney told The Associated Press by satellite phone from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalski, which has been stuck in the ice since Christmas Eve. 
 
 The helicopter will carry the passengers a dozen at a time in an operation expected to take five hours. All 22 crew members are planning to stay with their icebound vessel, which is not in danger. 
 
 The Aurora will carry the passengers to the Australian island state of Tasmania, arriving by mid-January. 
 
 The eagerly anticipated rescue came after days of failed attempts to reach the ship. Blinding snow, strong winds, fog and thick sea ice forced rescuers to turn back time and again. 
 
 Three icebreakers were initially dispatched to try and crack their way through the ice surrounding the vessel, but all failed. The Aurora came within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the ship Monday, but fierce winds and snow forced it to retreat to open water. 
 
 The Akademik Shokalskiy, which left New Zealand on Nov. 28, got stuck after a blizzard pushed the sea ice around the ship, freezing it in place about 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) south of Hobart, Tasmania. The ship isn't in danger of sinking and has weeks' worth of supplies on board, but it cannot move. 
 
 The scientific team on board had been recreating Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's 1911 to 1913 voyage to Antarctica. Turney had hoped to continue the trip if an icebreaker managed to free the ship. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Kristen Gelineau in Sydney contributed to this report.
– An Antarctic adventure cruise has become stuck in ice after a storm, and rescue ships are at least two days away—but to judge from the dispatches from the ship, the people aboard don't seem to mind. The Akademik Shokalskiy sent out a distress call yesterday, News.com.au reports, but a spokesman for the Spirit of Mawson, which organized the voyage, says the Russian ship is "reinforced against ice and well adapted to the conditions." The ship is believed to have enough provisions aboard to hold out. Reports differ on how many people are aboard—News.com.au says there are 50 tourists and 20 crew, while ABC has the numbers at 35 and 22—but those "tourists" include scientists, explorers, and historians. "We're in the ice like the explorers of old! All are well and spirits are high. Happy Christmas," the expedition leader tweeted. In a blog post, the ship said it was just two nautical miles from open sea, but powerless to get closer. The timing of the storm was actually fairly fortuitous though; if it had struck earlier, it might have caught the adventurers in the middle of a nearly 40-mile hike across pack ice.