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India's 40th scientific expedition to Antarctica launched

The 30-day journey with 43 members onboard MV Vasiliy Golovnin will be flagged off from Goa on January 5.

ByIFP Bureau

Updated 5 Jan 2021, 8:14 am

chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin
chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin

India on Monday launched the 40th scientific expedition to Antarctica. The 30-day journey with 43 members onboard MV Vasiliy Golovnin will be flagged off from Goa on January 5. The expedition marks four decades of country’s scientific endeavour to the southern white continent.

The chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin will reach Antarctica in 30 days and return to India in April 2021. On return, it will also bring back the winter team of the preceding trip. A team of 40 members will stay back, the Union Earth Science Ministry said.

The 39th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica was launched in November 2019. It mounted 27 scientific projects, focusing on climate process and its linkages with climate change, crustal evolution, environmental processes and conservation, the ecosystem of terrestrial and near-shore regions, observational research, and polar technology. Two additional collaborative projects with the National Institute of Polar Research, Japan were also undertaken.

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After completing its mission mandate, it returned to India in May of 2020. It also replenished the annual supplies of food, fuel, provisions, snowmobiles, and spares for operations and maintenance of life support systems at Maitri and Bharati. It cruised a team of 48 members to Antarctica for winter operations.

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, manages the entire Indian Antarctic programme. The first trip of Indian Antarctic expeditions that began in 1981 comprised of a team of 21 scientists and support staff led by Dr SZ Qasim.

The Indian Antarctic programme has now built three permanent research base stations in Antarctica—named Dakshin Gangotri, Maitri, and Bharati. Currently, India has two operational research stations in Antarctica named Maitri and Bharati.

The ministry stated that the scientific and logistic activities of the 40th Indian Antarctic expedition are limited due to the existing challenges associated with COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is to support the ongoing scientific projects on climate change, geology, ocean observations, electric and magnetic flux measurements, environmental monitoring; resupplying of food, fuel, provisions and spare; and accomplishing the return of the winter crew.

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India is committed to maintaining the continent of Antarctica free of COVID-19, the ministry said, adding the expedition will duly follow all protocols for the deployment of men and material as per the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs(COMNAP). Extra precautions of sanitizing the cargo, mandatory fourteen days of quarantine (pre-, and post-expedition), and RT-PCR testing before boarding the ice-class vessel is also being conducted, the ministry added.

 

 

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scientific expedition to Antarcticachartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovninearth Science

IFP Bureau

IFP Bureau

IMPHAL, Manipur

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