BELARE 2010-2011 on its Way
As the austral summer warms up in Antarctica, Antarctic teams around the world are packing and gearing up for the 2010-2011 season, and so is ours. While both the operational and scientific teams have already flown to Cape Town, the equipment was packed in Peutie (Belgium) last week. From there, 13 containers with 67 tons of material, food, fuel, and scientific equipment will leave for Zeebrugge before being loaded onto the Mary Arctica icebreaker and shipping to Antarctica via Cape Town.
Just to give you an idea, this years’ shipment consists of:
- 2 containers of fuel (vehicles)
- 1 container of material
- 2 containers of material and scientific material
- 1 container with the new generators
- 1 container of spare parts
- 1 container of frozen food
- 1 container of fresh food
- 1 container of dry food
- 1 container with metal parts for the construction
- 2 containers of construction wood
Upon arrival at the Princess Elisabeth Station, the team will first have to clear the doors of the technical areas and make the garages snow-free to allow for the season's activities to begin. Although most of the scientific projects to be conducted will be a continuation of last year’s projects, the season will be the first one dedicated entirely to science, with the Belgian Polar Secretariat as the managing organization for the station.
Picture: Peutie's team - © International Polar Foundation