British tourists have been stranded on board a cruise ship in the Antarctic after it was driven onto rocks by near gale-force winds.
The 17 tourists are just some of the 106 passengers and crew members on board the MV Ocean Nova which is operated by US company Quark Expeditions and was undertaking a 13-day Antarctic cruise when it was driven ashore at 4.30am on February 17.
Although temperatures have dropped to -5 degrees centigrade in the region, all aboard are reported to be safe as the ship has remained watertight despite the incident.
It was hoped that the ship would be freed from the rocks at 3am this morning when the operation would be helped by the high tide.