An Australian fishing boat stranded in Antarctic sea ice called for help after being immobilised by a damaged propeller, the ship's owners say.
A US Coast Guard icebreaker is steaming to the rescue of the 63m-long Antarctic Chieftain, which is stuck amid ice in remote ocean about 1700km northeast of McMurdo Sound.
The crew of the fishing boat is in no danger, officials say, and there is also no danger of an oil spill.
The Antarctic Chieftain damaged three of the four blades on its propeller when it struck ice on Saturday, the boat's owner Australian Longline said.
The ship, which is licensed to fish for toothfish in the Southern Ocean, then became icebound because of strong winds.
Skippered by New Zealander Rob Climpson, it contacted New Zealand's Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCCNZ) after it could not manoeuvre out of the ice.
Australian Longline managing director Les Scott says the vessel has no hull damage and the 26 people on board - 24 international crew and two fishery licence observers - were safe.
"An underwater inspection of the impact area was immediately carried out (by video) which identified that three of the four propeller blade tips had been damaged," Mr Scott said in a statement.
Mr Scott said it became clear that the boat would not be able to manoeuvre out of its predicament.
RCCNZ called up the US Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, which was about 500km away, to help the Antarctic Chieftain. It should reach the ailing fishing boat on Thursday night.
RCCNZ's Mike Hill said there was no ice around the stricken boat.
"There is clear water around the vessel, so the hull is not being squeezed by the ice, but a combination of an unexpected build up of ice floes 2-3m thick and damage to the propeller means it cannot get back to the open sea without assistance," he said.
It might take some time for the Polar Star to break through the ice, but the fishing boat is well equipped and the weather reasonable, Mr Hill said.
The US Coast Guard says the Polar Star will have to break through kilometres of thick ice and endure strong winds and heavy snow to reach the Antarctic Chieftain.
It will break the fishing vessel free of the ice and then the New Zealand-flagged fishing vessel Janas will tow the Antarctic Chieftain to the nearest safe harbour.
The Janas is nearly 1500km away.
"The considerable geographic distances and extreme environmental conditions make this a complex rescue mission," said the Polar Star's Captain Matthew Walker.
However, they were confident they could reach the Antarctic Chieftain.
The Polar Star, nearly 40 years old, is one of the largest ships in the US Coast Guard fleet and the US's only heavy icebreaker capable of operating in the thick Antarctic ice.
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