According to the official website of the National Antarctic Science Centre (NASC), the Ukrainian research icebreaker Noosphere has completed its second Antarctic season. The vessel arrived from the Antarctic to Cape Town.
It is reported that Noosphere delivered the wintering detachment of the 27th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition, which includes geophysicists, biologists, meteorologists, and representatives of the life support team, to the “big land”. The team worked at the Akademik Vernadsky station for a year.
Noosphere also delivered scientists and technical specialists of the seasonal team who worked at the station during the Antarctic summer, as well as members of the Polish Antarctic expedition from the Arttovsky station. In general, the second season of Noosphere lasted 4 months and consisted of 2 parts.
In December 2022, the ship sailed from Cape Town to the Antarctic, delivering a team of Polish polar explorers to the Artsovsky station, and Ukrainian technicians arrived at the Akademik Vernadsky station. They delivered the necessary cargo to both bases. Then Noosphere, under the leadership of Captain Pavlo Panasyuk, left Antarctica and arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile.
At the end of March, the ship set sail for the Antarctic again. This time, the 28th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition was on board, as well as the cargo needed for the new team’s wintering. The icebreaker ensured the rotation of annual expeditions at Akademik Vernadsky station, picked up Polish polar explorers from Artsovsky station and headed for South Africa under the leadership of Captain Alexander Grishko.
The ship’s course passed through the most turbulent place on the planet, the Drake Passage, and Noosphere crossed it 4 times. On the way to South Africa, in the Atlantic Ocean, the icebreaker encountered a tropical storm for 4 days. It is reported that at that time the wind reached 31 m/s and the waves reached 8-9 m. Fortunately, the obstacles were overcome thanks to the professional work of the team.
“The team, without exception, is great! I am very grateful to them for that. The weather was mostly favourable to us, but we had to deal with a few storms. However, all the tasks were completed, and Noosphere returned to Cape Town,” said Captain Alexander Grishko. The icebreaker is expected to stay here until the next Antarctic season, and experts have no plans to return the vessel to Ukraine until the end of the full-scale war. The polar explorers will be transported home by air and land.
“We all dream and make every effort to make sure that the time comes when Ukraine will celebrate the Victory and we will welcome our wonderful Noosphere in Odesa. But today we can be proud of the fact that the flagship of the Ukrainian research fleet has been successfully carrying out the Antarctic mission for the second year in a row. We do not stop despite all the enemy’s attempts to destroy us,” said Yevhen Dykyi, Director of the National Science Centre.
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