Chinese Ship Up in Flames in Antarctic Waters, 97 Rescued

97 Chinese crewmen of the KAI XIN fishing vessel were rescued by the Norwegian ship JUVEL Wednesday morning after a fire broke out onboard the ship in Antarctic waters.

A Chilean military tugboat is heading to Antarctica to help prevent an ecological disaster; the ship was drifting unmanned in zigzags near pointy glaciers. The Navy tugboat will tow the distressed ship to harbor.

The incident occurred 55 kilometers northwest of the Antarctic Base O 'Higgins, according to information received by the Service Maritime Search and Rescue MRCC Chile, at about 08:30 hours by the factory ship BETANZOS Fishing Chile , which was closest to the emergency.

The Chinese Embassy in Chile said it had launched an emergency mechanism to keep close contact with Chilean authorities after being informed of the accident.

Fog forced Chile's air force to cancel a flight Thursday to check on the ship's condition, but authorities state that the ship is not at risk of sinking.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.