A Russian-flagged fishing boat that was holed in the icy waters of the Antarctic earlier this month began navigating to New Zealand Wednesday after makeshift repairs were completed, Radio New Zealand reported.

The 48-meter Sparta had been stranded in the Ross Sea since Dec. 16, when its hull was pierced by ice.

Chris Henshaw, of Maritime New Zealand's Rescue Co-ordination Centre, told Radio New Zealand the ship was fit to begin its journey out of Antarctic waters accompanied by the Korean icebreaker, Araon.

"They've got approximately 100 miles of ice to get through, and once she's clear of the ice the intention is, we understand, that Sparta will then make her way to Lyttelton," Henshaw said.

Henshaw said it would take about 12 hours to get beyond the ice, at which point the Russian vessel was expected to rendezvous with sister ship Chiyo Maru No. 3.

The New Zealand air force was twice asked to drop pumps and other equipment to the Sparta after it hit ice underwater and put a 30cm hole in the hull, 1.5 meters below the water line.

It had been taking on water and listing 13 degrees, and at one stage some of the crew took to the liferafts.

Other vessels in the area were unable to reach the vessel because of the ice, so the Araon was commissioned to reach the Sparta, which had 32 crew aboard -- 15 Russians, 16 Indonesians and one Ukrainian.