A man who sparked an emergency evacuation after falling seriously ill has been air lifted from Davis Station to the ice breaker vessel the Aurora Australis . The ship , with 114 people on board , left the base on March 17 for its two-week journey to Hobart but got an emergency call to return two days later to pick the ailing man . The tradesman was flown by helicopter on Sunday and taken aboard , while a temporary pipeline was used to refuel the ship , which had to remain offshore due to a build-up of ice in the harbour . The ship will negotiate about 100 nautical miles of ice before reaching open water to embark on the voyage of about two weeks back to Hobart . An expeditioner was being transferred from Davis Station in the Australian Antarctic Territory to the Aurora Australis via a helicopter on Sunday . 'People have been working around the clock to refuel the ship and they 've been working in quite difficult conditions , ' Australian Antarctic Division operations manager Robb Clifton said . 'Often below minus 10 degrees ( Celsius ) and with a fairly constant snowfall . ' Mr Clifton would n't elaborate on the man 's illness other than to say it was not the result of an accident or incident . He is in a serious but stable condition in the ship 's medical bay and is being supported via tele-medicine by medical specialists in Hobart . There were initial reports the man was a scientist but the AAD confirmed he was a tradesman . The man was airlifted from Davis Station in the Australian Antarctic Territory to the Aurora Australis . The man remains in a serious but stable condition in the ship 's medical bay and is being supported via tele-medicine by medical specialists in Hobart . The emergency efforts to evacuate the man follows after the vessel was hampered by poor weather conditions and increasing amounts of ice . The Australian Antarctic Division 's Operations Manager Robb Clifton said he had hoped the ship could begin its journey back to Hobart on Monday . The Australian Antarctic Division said the man 's condition had stabilised and is not contagious , but that he needed to go to Hobart for further treatment . The man arrived in Antarctica in November and had been due to spend the winter at the base . The patient and his family have asked for privacy , Division boss Tony Fleming said . The Aurora Australis icebreaker was diverted to undertake the medical evacuation from Antarctica . The helicopter pulling fuel lines ashore from the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis during refueling operations at Australias Davis station in Antarctica . An Antarctic expeditionary team were working round the clock on March 22 to refuel the Australian icebreaker forced to turn back to its frozen base to pick up a seriously ill worker . The Aurora Australis , with 114 people on board , left the Davis station on March 17 for its two-week journey to Hobart in Australia but got an emergency call to return two days later with the worker gravely ill . The man will be taken aboard while the ship will top up on fuel at Davis station over the next 48 hours .
A man who fell ill at an Tasmanian Antarctic station has been evacuated . The tradesman was airlifted to the ice breaker vessel on Sunday . He remains in a serious but stable condition after an undisclosed illness . The man was taken aboard and will receive ongoing treatment . The ship will negotiate 100 nautical miles of ice before reaching open water . Aurora Australis is expected to arrive at the Australian capital on April 4 .