The Ukrainian research icebreaker 'Noosphere' has successfully completed its fourth Antarctic season, which was a record-breaking one in terms of the number of voyages and the expansion of international cooperation. This was reported by the National Antarctic Scientific Center.
The vessel returned to the port of Cape Town (South Africa) on May 10 after nearly five months of mission. During this period, 'Noosphere' made five trips to the icy continent, covering over 20,000 nautical miles (more than 37,000 kilometers), nearly equivalent to the length of Earth's equator. The icebreaker crossed the world's most turbulent waterway, the Drake Passage, ten times.
The icebreaker ensured the rotation of the 29th and 30th Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions, as well as the delivery of the seasonal expedition to the Vernadsky Research Base and back. Furthermore, the vessel carried out joint missions with the Antarctic programs of Poland, the USA, Spain, and the Czech Republic, which funded the respective missions. This enabled Ukraine to strengthen the logistics of its own program.
As part of the international project OCEAN:ICE, Ukrainian scientists launched six Argo floats to monitor ocean currents in the Southern Ocean for the first time. Also, for the first time, simultaneous radiosonde atmospheric measurements were conducted from the Vernadsky Research Base and the 'Noosphere' icebreaker, which will help better study cloud formation, precipitation, and the impact of climate processes on Antarctic glaciers.
"We are proud that even under the conditions of the full-scale Russian invasion, we continue to be part of global science and continue our research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean," said the Director of the National Antarctic Scientific Center, Yevhen Dykyi.
Due to Russian aggression, 'Noosphere' is unable to return to its home port in Odessa and is temporarily stationed in Cape Town.
The season was successfully carried out by two Ukrainian captains from the Odessa region — Pavlo Panasiuk, who has been in charge of the vessel since 2022, and Andriy Starish, who took command of the icebreaker for the first time after serving as the first mate.
