Cut-off Scott Base set to reconnect with world

Scott Base staff in Antarctica were last night hoping for daily contact with the rest of the world after five days of near-complete isolation.

The base lost its telephone and internet links after Intelsat satellite 804 moved out of position at 11.32am on Saturday.

Many Pacific Island countries also lost banking, international phone and Eftpos services. Most have since regained the services, after technicians realigned their dishes to two other satellites.

Kiribati, Tonga and American Samoa had full service restored by 12.30pm yesterday, but Tuvalu and Tokelau were still isolated.

Telecom spokeswoman Sarah Berry said a limited service was expected to be restored to Scott Base last night, giving a possible hour or two of service before it cut out again until this morning.

The base would have services from 9am to 11.30pm each day, when the satellite dipped below the horizon and out of sight of the dish.

In an emergency, Scott Base could still use the communication links at the nearby US McMurdo Base, which used different satellites.

In Auckland, the 3000-strong Tuvaluan community were still waiting for word from families back home.

The Rev Suamalie Naisali Tafaki Iosefa, head of the Auckland Tuvaluan Society, said people "get a little bit worried when things like this happen without any warning in a country which is 3.6m above sea level at its highest point".