The Ukrainian icebreaker “Noosphere” completed the Antarctic season

The Ukrainian research vessel "Noosphere" completed its third Antarctic season. Late in the evening on May 8, it docked in the port of Cape Town (South Africa).

The National Antarctic Science Center writes about it.

It was Noosphereʼs longest Antarctic season with the largest scientific program. It started on November 17, 2023 along the route Cape Town — King George Island (Polish Antarctic Station "Artstovsky") — Island Galindez (Ukrainian Antarctic Station "Akademik Vernadskyi").

Icebreaker delivered cargo and expedition members, in particular a detachment of technical specialists for the modernization of "Vernadskyi". So he arrived at the port of Punta Arenas (Chile). The captain of this flight was Oleksandr Hryshko.

The ship left for Antarctica again on March 15, 2024. On board was the team of the annual 29th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition, cargo for its wintering, as well as scientists of the seasonal expedition from Ukraine and other countries. Pavlo Panasiuk became the captain of this flight.

It was in this part — on the way to "Vernadskyi", in the area of the station and on the way back — that a lot of research was carried out on board the "Noosphere", in particular:

• samples of bottom sediments were taken to continue the study of the Earthʼs geological history, primarily climate change;
• for the first time, samples of marine fauna were collected from the bottom of the Southern Ocean (in cooperation with Polish colleagues);
• collected unique material for the study of acoustic communication of rare whales — southern fin whales;
• collected krill and phytoplankton samples for an important international study on the distribution of silicones in the Antarctic;
• selected samples of isolated populations of freshwater invertebrates and vascular plants, as well as rocks from Deception and Christine Islands, Arthurʼs Bay, interesting from the point of view of comparative study.

Noosphere arrived in Chile again on April 13, bringing the participants of the annual 28th UAE and seasonal expedition there. In this passage, the icebreaker had to overcome a strong storm in the Drake Passage with a wave height of up to 10 m and a wind speed of up to 35 m/s.

Therefore, the ship next went to the Antarctic — to King George Island for the rotation of polar explorers at the Polish station "Artstovskyi". From there, "Noosphere" set course for Cape Town, where it successfully arrived yesterday.

As last time, the current "Noosphere" expedition was a joint Ukrainian-Polish one and was partially financed by the Polish Antarctic Program.

The vessel will remain in the port of Cape Town until the next Antarctic season. The return of "Noosphere" to Ukraine is planned after the end of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.