From The "That Wasn't Supposed To Happen" Files

Living well, they say, is the best revenge...but Schadenfreude runs a damn close second:

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic resumed its journey home on Saturday after it was halted for a second potential rescue operation.

The icebreaker Aurora Australis had been slowly cracking through thick ice toward open water after a Chinese ship's helicopter on Thursday plucked the passengers from their stranded Russian research ship and carried them to an ice floe near the Aurora.

But on Friday afternoon, the crew of a Chinese icebreaker that had provided the helicopter said they were worried about their own ship's ability to move through the ice.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre, which oversaw the rescue, told the Aurora on Friday afternoon to stay in the area in case help was needed.

Was there a "happy ending?" (Apologies to any Oriental masseuses out there.)

"The masters of both Akademik Shokalskiy [the original, Russian expedition ship that became stuck] and Xue Long [the Chinese icebreaker] agree that further assistance from Aurora Australis is no longer required and they will be able to provide mutual support to each other," AMSA said.

AMSA said the Aurora had resumed its journey to Australia's Antarctic base on a resupply mission before returning to the Australian island state of Tasmania in mid-January.

Words cannot express, truly. Well, maybe some words:

"Your tears taste delicious." -- Eric Cartman, "South Park"