The Laura Bassi on its way to the Mario Zucchelli Station
The icebreaker Laura Bassi, the only Italian oceanographic research vessel capable of navigating in the polar seas, has left the port of Lyttelton in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her arrival at the Italian Mario Zucchelli Station in Antarctica is scheduled for 16 December.
This marks the start of the first of three roundtrips planned for the 37th Antarctic campaign of the National Programme for Research in Antarctica (PNRA), funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research and implemented by ENEA for the planning and logistical organisation of the expeditions, and by CNR for programming and scientific coordination.
The mission of the vessel Laura Bassi, owned by the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, began on 21 October when it left the port of Ravenna to reach the port of Lyttelton in New Zealand after about 40 days of sailing. Here, before leaving for Antarctica, she completed the loading of material, about 30 containers, and fuel, about 300 cubic meters, embarking 25 people including technicians and researchers of PNRA, and 21 sailors of the ship's crew.
This year the R/V Laura Bassi will make three roundtrips from New Zealand to Antarctica. During the first leg, the staff and cargo will be transferred to the Mario Zucchelli station, while no intermediate stops are planned to carry out scientific activities at sea. The vessel will leave Antarctica before Christmas to return to New Zealand on 2 January 2022, after a stop of about 5 days to allow the unloading and loading of material at the Mario Zucchelli station and to embark PNRA staff who have completed their mission. During the return trip, the research activities of the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute will be carried out, with bathymetric transects of the Ross Sea seabed.
The departure of the second roundtrip is scheduled from Lyttelton on 6 January 2022. This time, in addition to transporting equipment and 19 people including technicians and researchers, it will also carry out an oceanographic research campaign, with activities dedicated to the MORSEA marine observatory and the AMORS, GIAVA, ISOBATA, LASAGNE, ROSSKRILL and SIGNATURE projects. Once the oceanographic campaign is over, the vessel will land at the Mario Zucchelli station around 4 February, where it will remain at anchor to allow for the unloading/loading of materials and the embarkation of 46 PNRA personnel, and will depart for Lyttelton around mid-February.
The third and final journey is scheduled from 20 February to 25 March 2022. The Laura Bassi will not pass near the Mario Zucchelli station, but the 21 people, including technicians and scientists, will carry out research in the Ross Sea, mainly dedicated to geophysics with the COLLAPS, DISGELI, GRETA and ISOBATA projects. At the end of the oceanographic campaign, the icebreaker will return to Italy around the first ten days of May 2022, after about 45 days at sea.
The stringent health protocol developed last year by the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) in response to the pandemic was also applied to all personnel on board the vessel. Prior to departure, all participants were asked to complete the COVID-19 vaccination cycle and to vaccinate against seasonal influenza and pneumococcal disease. In addition, all personnel participating in PNRA's naval campaign underwent rigorous health checks both before departure from Italy and on arrival in New Zealand's Antarctic gateway. In order to prevent the Covid virus from spreading to the Antarctic continent, upon entering New Zealand's territory in Christchurch, before embarking, all spent a strict 14-day quarantine isolated in a hotel room.