The Ukrainian ice-class research vessel Noosfera reached the Ukrainian Antarctic Akademik Vernadsky station. It happened tonight, December 11, 2023, Kyiv time.
The ship has reached Vernadsky a bit earlier than expected; thanks to the coordinated work of Polish and Ukrainian teams, as well as good weather, unloading at Arctowski Polish Antarctic station was completed in a record 3 days.
But the journey from King George to Galindez (these are the islands where the Polish and Ukrainian bases are located) was slow. Our sailors had never seen such a variety of icebergs, and they all had to be skillfully bypassed. Just look at those ice blocks in the photo!
When the ship arrived at Vernadsky, the people were again lucky with the weather, so they were able to quickly transport the members of the Ukrainian seasonal expedition ashore. We remind you that due to the difficult seabed topography, the RV Noosfera does not approaches the shoor of our island, but stands nearby, so people and cargo are delivered to the station by small boats.
“Next week will be hot. But everyone is in high spirits, because it’s so joyful to see your friends and colleagues after 8 months, also with a bunch of useful stuff and goodies,” note the winterers.
It is necessary to unload the ship, start repair and other works shortly. The technical team of the seasonal expedition will continue the modernization of the station, started before the full-scale war, and the scientific team will conduct additional research.
Upon completion of the unloading, the RV Noosfera will deliver to Chile the Polish polar explorers who are now on board the vessel. For the third consecutive year our vessel, instead of the Russian one, provides rotation of wintering teams at Arctowski Polish Antarctic station.
So, in Chile, the RV Noosfera will be waiting for another seasonal team of scientists who will conduct a series of studies on board the vessel, and a new team of Ukrainian winterers to deliver them to the Vernadsky.
Photo: Serhii Hlotov, Oleksandr Gryshko, Anatolii Andreiev
