More than 100 awaiting Antarctic rescue

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNN) -- More than 100 people, including 79 Russian scientists, are trapped on a ship stuck in ice in the Antarctic for at least the next 11 days.

That's how long it will take icebreakers from South Africa and Argentina to reach the 107 people aboard the cargo ship Magdalena Oldendorff. Cold and lack of daylight hours make an aerial rescue too dangerous to attempt, officials said.

The ship, which had supplied Russian scientific bases in the Antarctic, was returning to Cape Town when it got stuck in drifting ice, said Gerald Hagerman, the spokesman for the ship's owners.

Hagerman said the Magdalena Oldendorff is in "a safe place in partially open water," and the vessel is "absolutely in no danger."

Hagerman, a director of the Cape Town-based Antarctic Logistics Center International, is coordinating the rescue.

The South African government will send an icebreaker from Cape Town on Sunday. Crews are working around the clock to equip two South African Navy helicopters with de-icing equipment before placing them aboard the rescue ship.

The South African ship will join another icebreaker, which will depart Monday from Argentina.

The trapped freighter has plenty of provisions aboard for the 11-day wait, they added.