The participants of the 25th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition overcame the last leg of their journey to Antarctica and reached Akademik Vernadsky station. After six days on the ship, the team arrived on Galindez Island late at night on April 21, 2020.
“At Vernadsky they were eagerly awaited by colleagues from the 24th expedition, who had been wintering for more than a year, as well as the seasonal team of scientists who had worked in Antarctica for several months. Because of the COVID-19 epidemic and the quarantine caused by it, the 25th Expedition had the longest and most difficult journey to Antarctica”, – noted the director of the National Antarctic Scientific Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Evgen Dykyi.
He recalled that through the quarantine restrictions the team was unable to get to Antarctica the first time and had to return to Kyiv. Only thanks to the coordinated work of many Ukrainian agencies and diplomatic institutions, at the end of March the 25th UAE was forwarded to Chile. There they underwent a two-week observation and on April 14 finally set off for Akademik Vernadsky station.
The main task of polar explorers over the next few days is to unload the ship. In Chile, the vessel was loaded with about 6 trucks of food, appliances and fuel. After unloading the vessel, the 24th UAE team will transfer the station to the 25th UAE and will leave for Ukraine.