A seriously ill member of the Australian Antarctic Division is bound for Australia after a medical evacuation at Davis Station.
The man is now on board the Aurora Australis, which is expected to arrive in Australia on April 4.
The ship has a medical facility on board and the man remains in a serious, but stable condition, the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) said.
The Aurora Australis was two days into its journey to Australia from the Davis Station when the ship turned around early on Thursday last week to pick up the sick man.
Australian Antarctic Division Operations Manager, Robb Clifton, said staff at Davis Station had worked through the weekend in below minus 10 degree temperatures and sometimes snowy conditions.
“Before the patient was transferred we did several test runs to make sure the operation went as smoothly as possible,” Mr Clifton said.
Mr Clifton said yesterday ice in the harbour meant that a helicopter was used, rather than a barge, to drag the fuel hose ashore and connect to the Davis supply.
The ship was 120 nautical miles (222.24 km) out of Davis at 11am today, and had another 100 nautical miles (185 km) of ice to navigate before reaching open ocean.
