The team of the 31st Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition (UAE) set off for the Akademik Vernadsky station. The long journey began on the night of 24-25 February from Kyiv.
The expedition participants travelled by bus to Warsaw. From there, they will fly to Chile’s southernmost city, Punta Arenas.
There, the polar explorers will reach the research vessel Noosfera. The ship will take them to their final destination, Galindez Island in Antarctica, where the Vernadsky base is located.
The expedition will work at the station for a year, replacing their colleagues from the 30th UAE. Traditionally, the team will continue research in three main areas: geophysics, meteorology and biology. They will also ensure the continued operation of Vernadsky base.
“This year, we celebrated the anniversary of Ukraine’s independent presence in Antarctica. It has been 30 years since Britain handed over its Antarctic station to us, and we started writing our own chronicle of polar science. But in reality, our work there has a much broader dimension. Both geographically, because Antarctica is a region where we “take the pulse” of the entire planet, and temporally, because we continue the longest Antarctic observations, which are far from 30 years old. It is very important that even in the conditions of full-scale war of the Russian aggression, we maintain the continuity of ongoing research and develop new areas of research,” said Evgen Dykyi, director of the National Antarctic Scientific Centre.
We remind you that there are 14 participants in the 31st UAE. These are 9 scientists (4 meteorologists, 2 geophysicists, 3 biologists), a cook, a doctor, an IT specialist, a diesel engineer, and a mechanic. For the first time in Ukraine’s history, the expedition is led by a woman, meteorologist Anzhelika Hanchuk.
