"Master Xu? Are you driving the boat yourself?" Xiang Yang asked.
Now, as the ship's driving crew members become more and more skilled, Xu Fang rarely has to drive the boat himself.
But at this moment, there was a chilly wind in the cab. Even though the temperature was dozens of degrees below zero, the windows were wide open to allow the cold wind to blow into the cab.
"That's right, I'm driving the boat, Captain. There is not only a blizzard outside, but also the Antarctic death ray. The visibility outside is no more than 30 meters, and the effective visibility is only a dozen meters. The ship absolutely cannot move forward." Xu Fang, who was sitting in the main driving seat, said seriously.
Upon hearing this, Xiang Yang looked out the window quickly. With his vision far superior to that of humans, he saw the outline of a huge iceberg becoming clearer and clearer in the flying snow. There was also an unfathomable canyon next to the iceberg.
Xiang Yang hurriedly asked, "Xu Fang, where are the other ships in the fleet? Are they sailing?"
"I asked the chief mate, and he said they have a nautical chart and we can set sail," Xu Fang said.
Xiang Yang asked quickly: "Did the ship's detector detect that there is an iceberg ahead?"
Xu Fang looked at a young man standing nearby.
The crew member quickly said, "No, I've been staring at the display screen. There's nothing but open sea ahead. Not to mention big icebergs, there's not even any floating ice."
Xiang Yang heard it.
Gao Chuang had a nautical chart of this route, and combined with the data from the fishing boat's detector, it was obvious that there should be no icebergs in front of the fishing boat.
But Xiang Yang clearly saw an iceberg just now.
Xiang Yang rubbed his head. Was he snow-blind? Was the mountain valley he saw all an illusion
Xiang Yang shook his head and quickly denied it.
That iceberg must also be a mirage.
"Follow the middle of the fleet and continue sailing. Fishing boats should not go too fast and let the icebreaker take on the navigation task." Xiang Yang said.
"Okay, I'll start the tracking navigation and follow the icebreaker. But Captain, if the visibility outside is less than 20 meters, I will not sail anymore no matter what." Xu Fang said seriously.
Xiang Yang nodded, "Okay, I'll tell Chief Gao that if the visibility outside is less than 20 meters, then the fleet will not be able to sail."
Having said that, Xiang Yang ended the call with Xu Fang and transferred the call to Gao Chuang.
"Mr. Gao, the visibility outside is too low now. We can't drive anymore." As soon as the intercom was connected, Xiang Yang went straight to the point.
Gao Chuang said, "Don't be afraid. Follow me. I have a nautical chart for this route and I know how to get there. If we sail for another half an hour, we will be able to find an iceberg that can shelter us from the blizzard."
Xiang Yang looked out the window. The wind and snow were getting stronger and stronger. The sound of snow and sand hitting the glass was getting louder and more urgent. Xiang Yang had no choice but to say, "Okay, but my pilot said that if the visibility outside is less than 20 meters, he will not sail again no matter what."
"Don't worry, if the visibility is less than 20 meters, I won't sail even if you want me to," said Gao Chuang.
Xiang Yang nodded and hung up the phone, but he didn't feel relieved.
Soon, half an hour passed.
The fleet anchored in the sea ice about a hundred meters away from a huge ice floe.
Due to the influence of the blizzard, the sea ice was moving and there were cracks everywhere. In order to ensure the safety of the fleet, fishing boats could not get close to the huge piece of ice.
But because of the obstruction of the icebergs on the floating ice, Xiang Yang could not feel the severe snowstorm for the time being.
Xiang Yang put on his assault suit and walked onto the deck carefully.
The sky was dark, but the sea water was still a layer of white. Obviously, the white weather was not over yet.
Although Xiang Yang no longer felt the strong wind, the blizzard was still falling, and the pagoda-shaped snow fell on his face, scratching it and causing it to hurt.
"Are we just going to stay here and not move?" Chen Qingsheng asked Xiang Yang.
Xiang Yang nodded, "I want to leave quickly, but look at the sky. The snow is falling harder and harder, the color of the air is getting darker, and the visibility is getting lower and lower. The huge iceberg a hundred meters away has now turned into a piece of white and is completely invisible. In this situation, we can't set sail."
Chen Qingsheng looked around and saw that there were no crew members nearby. He then cursed in a low voice, "What kind of weather is this? It was a nice sunny day, but it changed so suddenly."
Xiang Yang smiled and explained to Chen Qingsheng: "Don't be surprised, this is actually the whiteout in Antarctica. It comes quickly and fiercely. The most terrifying thing is that it almost completely deprives people of their vision. We are still lucky. We can only see more than ten meters. In the past, foreign scientific expedition members couldn't find their way during the whiteout and were frozen to death a few meters away from the station gate."
If you can't see, you can't tell the direction and the fleet can't sail.
Xiang Yang and others could only dock the ship on the leeward side of the iceberg.
Gao Chuang stood at the bow of a processing mother ship, using a walkie-talkie to contact the captains and first mates in the fleet again and again, reminding everyone not to act on their own.
I wanted to look at the deck. In less than an hour since the blizzard started, the snow on the deck was more than a foot thick.
Xiang Yang could see the people on another fishing boat next to him, less than thirty meters away.
But the people on the other fishing boat could not see Xiang Yang's large ocean-going fishing boat at all, let alone Xiang Yang.
However, although it cannot be seen, it does not affect the conversation among the people on the fleet.
Xiang Yang could occasionally hear hearty shouts coming from the nearby fishing boats. Obviously, people on other fishing boats were communicating by shouting.
Another half an hour later, the blizzard showed no sign of abating, and the snow on the deck was already more than half a meter thick.
Most importantly, the howling cold wind passed over the iceberg and blew towards the fleet again.
At this moment, Chen Qingsheng became extremely scared. He dragged Xiang Yang back to the cabin, and then walked around in the cabin, muttering to himself, "When will the bad weather end? Will he be trapped?"
As for Gao Chuang, he stopped shouting to Xiang Yang because his walkie-talkie was running out of battery.
The weather outside the cabin was getting colder and colder, and a thick layer of ice crystals formed on the windows.
Xiang Yang smiled at Chen Qingsheng and said, "Don't walk around anymore. Come, have some chocolate candies to warm yourself up."
Chen Qingsheng shook his head. "Captain, I'm not cold. What I'm worried about now is whether we will be trapped here by a blizzard. I heard that every year, many people are trapped in Antarctica by blizzards and stay trapped for a whole year."
After hearing this, Xiang Yang stopped talking.
There are actually a lot of drift ice in this sea area now.
If this blizzard lasts long enough, it is possible that the entire fishing boat will be trapped.