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The trapped Chinese icebreaker Xuelong broke through the Antarctic's heavy ice floes on Tuesday and was headed for open water. The vessel¹, which had been conducting China's 30th Antarctic expedition before going to the aid of the stramded Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, will now continue with its scheduled activities.

Chinese research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong sails in the open waters in Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2014. Trapped China icebreaker Xuelong made successful escape through heavy sea ice at 18:30 Beijing time on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

Chinese research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong sails in the open waters in Antarctica, Jan. 7,

2014.  (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

Finally breaking free.

"After 13 days of struggles, Xuelong freed itself at 5:50pm Beijing time on Tuesday and was making its way through lighter² ice. All crew members onboard are faring well and equipment are in order." Liu Shunlin, leader of Xuelong Expedition Team, said.

It was not an easy task, as the ship was stuck in ice up to four meters thick. It’s only designed to break ice 1.1 meters thick. From early Tuesday morning, the crew had been closely monitoring the movements of surrounding floes and icebergs³, standing⁴ at the ready. It had been preparing by revving⁵ up its engine and carving⁶ out a passage by sailing back and forth⁷ over a kilometer.

The chance arose when a warm air current from the north-west loosened the floes packed around the vessel, clearing an 80-meter stretch of water. It took three hours for the 167-meter long vessel to move just 200 meters. And after more than 13 hours, the crew and ship were free.

Xuelong won international recognition for its rescue of the trapped Russian research ship.

And now, it’s getting back to its own Antarctic expedition.

"Our next stop is the Ross Sea. We have identified a site to build a permanent research station there, so we will conduct geological survey and mapping in the area and lay some ground work for future design and planning of the station." Qu Tanzhou, director of Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Admin., said.

Experts say the Antarctic ice will remain fluid until February, when the summer season ends, giving Xuelong time to continue on to the next stages of its journey.