Stories and News No. 615 Once upon a time there was a ship. A Russian ship. I say Russian to those who are particularly interested in these anecdotes. A ship is a ship. It navigates. That is what it does. Or at least it tries to do. The Russian ship sails to Antarctica on December 8, 2013 and the 25th of the same month gets stuck in the ice. Blocked. A stuck ship is an oxymoron and at the same time is a crime. Ships are made to navigate, that is among its rights. In order to free the stranded ship, a Chinese icebreaker sails. Here, too, I say Chinese to those who need to know it. Despite good intentions, the icebreaker fails in its job. In other words, not in accordance with its secondary function. Because in accordance to the primary, all ships sail, unless unexpected holes, but breaking the ice is not so easy. The ice is no longer what it once was, my grandmother always says. It’s colder, the old woman told me, is more frozen, she exactly said. The ice of Antarctica...
by Alessandro Ghebreigziabiher