The Ukrainian Antarctic base, Academician Vernadsky, welcomed UK researchers and crew of RSS Sir David Attenborough, a British icebreaking vessel.
The National Antarctic Research Center reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform saw.
The guests thanked the Ukrainian team for preserving the former British research base “Faraday”, which they claim has a special soul.
One of the guests, an experienced polar explorer Mark Clilverd, who wintered on the Faraday as a geophysicist for two years (1985-1986), showed photos from his time at the base.
Ukrainian polar explorers thanked the crew of the British vessel for the significant support that the UK provides to Ukraine in various fields. They presented the guests with hats and chevrons with the expedition emblem and stickers with “combat penguins” (polar explorers’ specialties in the Armed Forces of Ukraine), which sparked great interest. The British expressed confidence that their country would continue to support Ukraine in these times of difficult trials.
The Ukrainian expedition was invited to have a tour of the icebreaker. As noted by the National Academy of Sciences, this is a modern research vessel worth GBP 200 million, which made its maiden voyage to Antarctica in 2021.
RSS Sir David Attenborough replaced the James Clark Ross icebreaker, which Ukraine purchased before renaming her into Noosfera.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, late March, the team of the 29th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition set off for rotation, replaced with the 30th mission that became the full host at the Akademician Vernadsky base.
