Russian icebreaker, the Vasiliy Golovnin, left the port of Buenos Aires on Monday morning and headed on a mission to take about 60 Argentine scientists to research stations in Antarctica.
The vessel will carry about 4,000 metric tons of cargo, including 160 metric tons of food and 500 metric tons of fuel, as well as scientific equipment, construction materials and other cargo for Argentine Antarctic stations.
"Argentineans have chartered our ship for five years running after their Admiral Irizar icebreaker, traditionally used in Antarctic missions, was damaged by fire in April 2007,” the Vasiliy Golovnin captain, Iksan Yusupov, said.
The Russian ship carries a KA-32 helicopter to deliver cargo to Arctic stations, as most of them have no quays.
The Vasiliy Golovnin will visit permanent Argentine bases Orcadas, Marambio, Esperanza, San Martin, Jubany and seasonal bases Petrel Air Station, Teniente Camara, Almirante Brown and Primavera.
Argentina has six permanent and ten seasonal stations. It also has about 60 Antarctic camps, but most of them have been abandoned. All are scattered across the Argentine Antarctica sector, an area of about a million square km considered a part of the Tierra del Fuego province.
