R/V Akademik Feodorov to leave Saint-Petersburg for Capetown on 15 November 2022
It will be the only ship of the 68th Russian Antarctic Expedition
The only ship of the 68th Russian Antarctic Expedition, R/V Akademik Feodorov, will leave the port of Saint-Petersburg for the port of Capetown on 15 November 2022 and will return in June 2023, IAA PortNews correspondent cites Aleksandr Makarov, Director of Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), as saying at the TASS media conference.
“The 68th RAE is beginning on November 15 with R/V Akademik Feodorov leaving the port of Saint-Petersburg. The ship is currently being fueled and loaded with the rest of cargo. A total of 259 people will take part in the expedition. It will last for about 7 months 6 of which will take place on the continent. The ship will return in June 2023. This year’s scientific and production programme is extensive. Although only one ship is involved, there is much work to do,” he said.
“R/V Akademik Feodorov is heading for Capetown. Apart from the crew, it carries 90 people. In mid-December the ship will come to the port where it will be loaded with aviation kerosine and other cargoes. About 30 more expedition participants will get there by air. Having left Capetown the ship will proceed to the Progress station with the arrival expected about December 28. After the Progress station the ship will pass to the Mirny station where it is to spend about 10 days to ensure personnel rotation and unloading of cargo. Then the ship will head for the seasonal field base Molodyozhnaya after which it is to return to the Progress to take the participants of the seasonal expedition and the builders of the new wintering complex and to transport them to Capetown. In the port, the ship will take the participants of the Novolazarevskaya and Bellingshausen wintering stations and will then return to the Antarctic, to the Progress station. Then again Molodyozhnaya, Novolazarevskaya, Bellingshausen and Capetown. The voyage will last for about 200 days,” told Aleksandr Klepikov, head of RAE.
