The icebreaker Noosfera arrives in Chile in the middle of the war between Ukraine and Russia
El buque de investigación Noosfera en Punta Arenas. Foto: La Prensa Austral
Nicolás García | Viernes, 18 de marzo de 2022, 12:00
The icebreaker Noosfera arrived in the Chilean city of Punta Arenas on March 14 for a stopover before continuing its first voyage to the Akademik Vernadsky polar station as part of the 27th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition.
The ship sailed on January 28 from the city of Odessa weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however she continued her journey to the white continent where scientists of that nationality and from other countries will carry out different types of studies. Near the Ukrainian facility is the Russian base Bellingshausen, which also conducts Antarctic research.
The Noosphere, adapted to work at low temperatures, was purchased by Ukraine from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in 2021. The unit served that institution under the name of RSS James Clark Ross as a biological, oceanographic and geophysical research platform for 30 years.
The icebreaker was built at Swan Hunter Shipbuilders, has a length overall of 99.04m, a beam of 18.85m, a full load draft of 6.4m and displaces 7,767 tonnes. She is equipped with eight laboratories and possesses an extremely low noise signature, among other features.
The ship, under the command of Captain Pavlo Panasyuk, will carry out supply tasks during its stay in Punta Arenas and will embark scientists to continue its trip to the Vernadsky base on March 23. This facility was previously the Faraday base and was ceded by the UK to Ukraine in 1996.
