The trapped Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, warmed up its engine and widened a path through the ice on Monday, preparing to break out of frozen floes in Antarctica, as weather conditions may turn favorable before Wednesday.

"The path is up to 80 meters wide and 1 kilometer long, which will help the vessel in breaking free," Qu Tanzhou, director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration under the State Oceanic Administration, said on Monday.

Although the southeast wind did not turn into a favorable west wind as expected on Monday, the heavy snow of the past few days turned to sleet, which melted parts of the ice floes, Qu said.