Ukrainian icebreaker “Noosfera” arrived at the station “Akademik Vernadskyi”
5.12.2025 - 16:39
The research vessel covered the route from Chile to the station through the Drake Passage in five days.
The icebreaker Noosphere delivered the Ukrainian seasonal expedition team to the station, as well as participants in the first Mexican Antarctic expedition, the National Antarctic Science Center reported.
The journey from Punta Arenas (Chile) to Vernadskyi took five days. The usually turbulent Drake Passage was quite calm.
“We are moving like on an ideal highway: no obstacles — only speed and space,” is how geophysicist and member of the scientific team Yuriy Otruba described the crossing of the Drake Passage.
In addition to delivering the expeditions, “Noosfera” provided research on the way to the station.
“In particular, Ukrainian oceanographers first launched multibeam echo sounder systems into the ocean to read the bottom surface at depths of up to 12 km with a resolution of up to 25 cm per pixel, which is cooler than satellites! The echo sounder also “sees” up to 500 m below the bottom,” the scientists said.
The vessel is scheduled to be unloaded soon, as well as the start of new areas of work at the station.
As a reminder, the fifth Antarctic season of the “Noosfera” began in mid-October this year. The vessel has already managed to deliver cargo and an expedition to the Polish station “Artztowski”.
