U.S. collects trio

Press, 14 January 1986, Page 1

U.S. collects trio

Three British adventurers from the Footsteps of Scott expedition were flown from the South Pole to McMurdo Station yesterday. Messrs Robert Swan, Roger Mear and Gareth Wood, had walked to the Pole from Cape Evans. They were reunited at McMurdo with the other 26 members of the expedition, most of whom were in the expedition’s support vessel Southern Quest just before she sank in the Ross Sea on Sunday morning. The United States National Science Foundation plans to fly all expedition members to Christchurch this week, although a date has yet to be set. No decision has been made on whether the adventurers will be charged for their recovery and flights to Christchurch. The foundation’s representative in Christchurch, Mr Walt Seelig, said yesterday that any decision on costs “is a long way down the road.” The expedition’s headquarters in London reported yesterday that the United States Air Force would not charge for the rescue, but would charge $30,000 to fly its 29 members from McMurdo Sound to Christchurch. Mr Seelig dismissed the report as “a lot of baloney.” The sinking of the South-

ern Quest could lead Antarctic Treaty nations to make an international appeal to private expeditions to keep out of the Antarctic, reports the Press Association. New Zealand’s Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr Chris Beeby, said treaty countries had been worried about the problem for years. In the past they have agreed that member Governments should warn private expeditions of the need for careful and thorough planning, and observance of set rules. Mr Beeby said the accident would almost certainly force a review of the matter at the meeting of treaty signatories. Australia’s Minister of Science, Mr Barry Jones, yesterday repeated a call to Greenpeace to abort its Antarctic mission to set up a group of environmentalists at a base on Ross Island. The Southern Quest has the lowest ice classification, but the Greenpeace did not even meet that standard, he said. In a telex to the group, Mr Jones warned of serious defects in the ship revealed in an inspection by a British ice ship expert. Greenpeace’s Antarctic co-ordinator, Mr Peter Wilkinson, said he appreciated Mr Jones’s concern, but

everything was going as planned. “If we come back it will only be because of the weather conditions — nqt because Mr Jones tells us to.” The Greenpeace was last evening heading west towards Beaufort Island, in the area where the Southern

Quest sank. Sea conditions were reported to be good, and the temperature was —sdeg. Mr Wilkinson said the ship was expected to reach the edge of the ice pack late last evening. Further reports, page 4