Image copyright Twitter/@CancilleriaARG Image caption ARA Almirante Iríza had to break through thick ice to get near the research camp

The Argentine navy has rescued four US scientists and a contractor from an Antarctic camp after the US icebreaker due to pick them up could not reach them because of thick sea-ice. The four U.S. scientists and a support staff member conducting research on Antarctica’s Joinville Island were airlifted by helicopter Sunday from an icebreaker ship dispatched by Argentina, said the National Science Foundation, which funds and manages the Antarctic program. One Scientist Says It’s ‘Suspicious’

Argentina's Foreign Ministry said that the U.S. icebreaker Laurence M. Gould was unable to carry out the evacuation because the ice barrier was too dense on the Weddell Sea in front of the island that is south of the Argentine mainland. Argentina’s armed forces said in a statement that the scientists are in good health and that they will be transferred to the U.S. vessel when weather conditions improve. The team of four U.S. scientists and an employee of Colorado-based support contractor ASC, led by coastal geologist Alexander Simms of the University of California at Santa Barbara, was on icebound Joinville Island, about 100 miles distant, according to U.S. officials.
The Argentine Navy rescues four United States Antarctic Program scientists and a contractor stranded on Joinville Island in Antarctica after their icebreaker RV Laurence M. Gould encountered thick sea-ice.