First the good news: the stranded ship MV Akademic Shokalskiy in Antarctica is showing no signs of sinking. The bad news, however, is that passengers and crew might spend the New Year stuck in ice as erratic weather is hampering the rescue efforts.

The icebreaker, Aurora Australis, is the third vessel attempting to fish out the 74 scientists, tourists and crew of the Russian ship after clearing miles of thick ice to draw within 10 nautical miles of the stranded vessel on Monday, NBC News reported.

But snow showers and strong winds forced Aurora to move back.

However, the crew is still in good spirits with expedition leader Christopher Turney tweeting: "Cracks are developing around the bow."

The ship also has weeks' worth of supply so even if they won't be rescued after the New Year they would have no danger of going hungry.

The ship is wedged between giant blocks of ice more than 10-feet deep since the Dec. 24 at about 1,500 miles south of Tasmania and 100 miles east of Dumont D'Urville, the French Antarctic station, said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA),

As Lisa Martin of the AMSA told Reuters: "The ice conditions seem to have improved and there appears to be some softening and some cracks appearing."

According to the Reuters, the Akademik Shokalskiy is on an Antarctic trip to mark the 100^th anniversary of the expedition led by Australian explorer Douglas Mawson. The ship left New Zealand on Nov. 28.

Another rescue vessel, the Snow Dragon, is just waiting on the wings to provide support for the Aurora since the Chinese vessel could not push through the ice. A helicopter is also on board that can be used to fly the crew and passengers out.

The Snow Dragon actually came the closest at just seven nautical miles from the stranded ship in Antarctica but it was also stuck in the thick slabs of ice.