Ukrainian icebreaker “Noosphere” completed its fourth Antarctic season — it became a record

The Ukrainian scientific research vessel "Noosphere" completed its fourth Antarctic season and returned to the port of Cape Town (South Africa) on May 10, 2025 with records.

This was reported by the National Antarctic Science Center.

In about five months of work, the Noosphere team made a record five trips to Antarctica and crossed the worldʼs most turbulent Drake Passage ten times. In total, the ship traveled more than 37 000 kilometers, which is almost the length of the Earthʼs equator. Hereʼs what they managed to do during that time:

• to replace the 29th and 30th Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions, to deliver a seasonal expedition to the Ukrainian station "Akademik Vernadsky" and back;
• to conduct joint flights with expeditions of Antarctic programs of Poland, the USA, Spain and the Czech Republic;
• to conduct a number of geological, oceanographic and meteorological studies.

As part of the international OCEAN:ICE project, Ukrainian scientists launched six argobuoys for the first time, which collect information about currents in the Southern Ocean. Ukrainians also conducted simultaneous radio sounding of the atmosphere from Vernadsky and Noosphere for the first time — they learned about the processes of cloud formation and precipitation, their impact on the ocean, sea ice, and melting glaciers.

The captains of the fourth season of "Noosphere" were Pavlo Panasyuk and Andriy Starish.

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