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Antarctic rescue underway to save sick Dutch woman

Xinhua, January 31, 2017 Adjust font size:

A rescue operation is underway to evacuate a sick Dutch woman from a ship in Antarctica, New Zealand maritime authorities, who are coordinating the rescue, said on Tuesday.

The urgent medical evacuation (medevac) was launched after the 66-year-old woman suffered a suspected stroke on the cruise vessel, MV Ortelius, in Antarctic waters early on Monday, said the Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand (RCCNZ).

RCCNZ said it was working closely with the U.S. Antarctic Program and the vessel's operator and crew after receiving the call from the ship in the Ross Sea, off the Antarctic ice shelf, 3,600 km south of New Zealand.

The ship's medical staff had recommended that the patient be taken to New Zealand for further medical treatment, said a statement from RCCNZ.

The MV Ortelius was transporting the woman, who was in a stable condition, towards McMurdo Station, a U.S. Antarctic research center on the south tip of Ross Island, 620 km from the ship's original position on Monday.

"The MV Ortelius will attempt to get as close to McMurdo Station as conditions allow for the woman to be transferred. If ice prevents the vessel reaching McMurdo she will be transported by the vessel's own helicopter and flown to McMurdo Station. The woman will fly on to New Zealand on a regular scheduled flight," RCCNZ senior search and rescue officer Chris Henshaw said in the statement. Endit