Ivan Papanin will Reach Breid Bay today

"For several days, the air had been getting cooler on board, a sign that the ship was progressing southwards", says Philippe Herman, Belgian Army coordinator. Last week, the ship's crew saw their first iceberg and then, the cargo ship started ice-breaking. A few days later, the ship was caught in sea ice. It took the captain several tries before freeing the ship from the ice's embrace. A few days later, the captain had to shut the engine off when the motor broke down. After four hours of repair work, the Ivan Papanin was ready to resume her voyage.

The ship reached 5° East on December 11th with the members of the Norwegian expedition ready to unload their equipment. On the Belgian side, Alain Hubert has already made his way towards the coast, in order to identify potential unloading sites. The choice of the unloading point will depend on ice conditions at the coast.