Antarctica, the Laura Bassi icebreaker ship to New Zealand

The icebreaker Laura Bassi, owned by the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS), has started from Ravenna, where it has completed the loading stages of scientific instruments and materials, in light of the new scientific campaign of the National Research Program in Antarctica (PENRA).

“The ship carried out its first science expedition in the Arctic in mid-September and is now ready to participate in the next Italian expedition to Antarctica – explains Franco Corinne, director of the Naval Infrastructure Management Center at Augs – the icebreaker will follow the shortest distance route through the Suez Canal, wrapping around the Sri Lanka and then South Australia until his arrival, after 42 days of navigation, at Littleton, in New Zealand.”

Laura Pacey will participate in the 37th Antarctic Expedition of the PNRA, which is funded by the Department of University and Research and managed by Enea for Logistic Planning and Organizing, and Cnr for Scientific Planning and Coordination.

The Ogs – explains a note – is today the only Italian ocean-research icebreaker ship and at the moment also the first and only Italian-flagged vessel capable of operating in the polar seas, both in Antarctica and the Arctic, compliant with new international rules of ship arrival to the polar regions (“polar symbol”).

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