The leader of an ill-fated expedition to Antarctica that ended with a Russian ice-breaker being stranded in ice for over a week has defended himself against growing criticism.

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) set out to retrace the journey of Douglas Mawson using the Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, which became ice-bound on Christmas Eve with both scientists and paying passengers onboard.

It is likely millions of dollars have been spent on an international rescue mission, which has affected the scientific programs of a number of countries and there are calls for the expedition to foot the bill for the rescue.

Expedition leader Professor Chris Turney has been criticised for inexperience and for taking risks by entering Commonwealth Bay.

However, writing for the British Observer newspaper, Professor Turney says the expedition was not a "jolly tourist trip" but represented serious science, which had two years of planning behind it and achieved much before it became stuck.

"During the expedition we pioneered a new route into the huts and were able to deliver two large teams to work in the area, including undertaking important conservation work on the huts," he wrote.

"The AAE is not a jolly tourist trip as some have claimed, nor is it a re-enactment.

"The AAE is inspired by Mawson but is primarily a science expedition; it will be judged by its peer-reviewed publications."

Professor Turney said the passengers were grateful for their rescue but said the circumstances which saw their ship lodged in ice were unforeseeable.

"Unfortunately, events unfolded which no amount of preparation can mitigate," he said.

"Unluckily for us, there appears to have been a mass breakout of thick, multi-year sea ice on the other side of the Mertz Glacier; years after the loss of the Mertz Glacier tongue.

"There was nothing to suggest this event was imminent. We have had regular updates on the state of the sea ice in the area and had been monitoring the region for the last year."

Ice-breakers rescue operation continues

Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard's powerful ice breaker, the Polar Star, is heading to Antarctica as the next phase of a rescue mission begins.

It left Sydney yesterday headed for the stranded ship and is expected to take seven days to reach Commonwealth Bay where two ships are ice bound.

The Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy became stuck on Christmas Eve and the Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long was trapped attempting a rescue not long after.

Allyson Conroy from the US Coast Guard says she is confident the Polar Star will be successful.

"The commanding officer of the Polar Star has a lot of experience with ice-breaking; this is not his first gig - he's been doing this for a while," she said.

"He understands ice, he understands ice-breaking, he understands what his ship can do and the limitations."

The Polar Star has a specially built bow and reinforced hull that can break up to 1.8 metres of ice at three knots.

Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis is on its way to Casey Station, after collecting the 52 tourists and scientists who were lifted by helicopter the stranded ship last Thursday.