Handout shows the Chinese Xue Long icebreaker, as seen from Australia’s Antarctic supply ship, the Aurora Australis, sitting in an ice pack unable to get through to the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, in East Antarctica

The Xue Long (Snow Dragon) Chinese icebreaker, as seen from Australia’s Antarctic supply ship, the Aurora Australis, sits in an ice pack unable to get through to the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, in East Antarctica, some 100 nautical miles (185 km) east of French Antarctic station Dumont D’Urville and about 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) south of Hobart, Tasmania, January 2, 2014, in this handout courtesy of Fairfax’s Australian Antarctic Division. A planned helicopter rescue of 52 passengers on the Russian Akademik Shokalskiy ship stranded in Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve was delayed on Thursday due to unfavourable sea ice conditions in the area. The helicopter on the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon had planned to lift passengers from the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy on Thursday and then use a barge to transport them to the nearby Aurora Australis, Australia’s Antarctic supply ship. Picture taken January 2, 2014. REUTERS/Fairfax/Australian Antarctic Division/Handout via Reuters (ANTARCTICA — Tags: MARITIME ENVIRONMENT) ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS