Ukrainian icebreaker “Noosfera” begins new Antarctic season
13.10.2026 - 12:06
The sixth Antarctic season of the Ukrainian scientific research vessel “Noosfera” has started. The vessel is heading from Cape Town to Antarctica.
Currently, “Noosfera” is heading from Cape Town (South Africa), where the Ukrainian flagship is forcibly based due to the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, to Antarctica, the National Antarctic Research Center (NARC) reports.
The ship’s captain is Andriy Starish.
The first stop will be the Polish Antarctic station “Artztowski”, to which “Noosfera” provides logistical support in the construction of new hulls. After that, the icebreaker will head to Punta Arenas (Chile), where it will pick up the first group of the Ukrainian seasonal detachment and cargo and head to Vernadskyi. Arrival at the Ukrainian station is expected in early December.
This season, many studies are also planned within the framework of international cooperation.
“The first Indonesian expedition will work on board the “Noosfera” and at the station, which, together with our scientists, will implement new geological, biological and oceanographic projects. Cooperation with Mexico, the USA and the Czech Republic will continue. Two studies will be carried out within the framework of the EU POLARIN project. One is dedicated to the distribution of microbial communities in the air of polar regions, and the other is to monitor carbon in the Southern Ocean,” the scientists said.
The main event will be a large-scale Ukrainian-Swedish study of the Weddell Sea, which is located east of the Antarctic Peninsula.
During the expedition, they plan to study extremophile organisms that live in “black smokers” — underwater geysers with temperatures up to 400°C. Scientists will also look for cold-water corals and even a sunken ship. In addition, studies of atmospheric rivers and ocean currents will continue.
Traditionally, “Noosfera” will provide a rotation of annual expeditions on Vernadskyi.
As previously reported by USM, scheduled maintenance work on the icebreaker Noosphere was completed in Cape Town at the end of September.
