India on November 16, 2021, launched the 41st scientific expedition to Antarctica as the first batch of 23 scientists and support staff reached the Indian Antarctic station Maitri last week. Four more batches will reach Antarctica by mid-January 2022 via air route using the DROMLAN facility and onboard chartered ice-class vessel MV VasiliyGolovnin, the Ministry of Earth Sciences confirmed in a statement.
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India launches 41st scientific expedition to Antarctica – Know Key Details |
| Two major programs of India’s 41st expedition to Antarctica Once all the batches of the Indian contingent reach Antarctica, they will launch two major programs as part of India’s 41st expedition to Antarctica. The first program includes geological exploration of the Amery ice shelf at Bharati station. This program will aid in exploring the link between India and Antarctica in the past. The second program includes reconnaissance surveys and preparatory work for drilling of 500 meters of ice core near Maitri station. This program will aid to improve the understanding of Antarctic climate, sea-ice, westerly winds, and greenhouse gases from a single climate archive for the past 10,000 years. The British Antarctic Survey and the Norwegian Polar Institute have collaborated to carry out the ice core drilling near Maitri station. The collaboration will also aid in replenishing the annual supplies of food, provisions, fuel, and spares for operations and maintenance of life support systems at Maitri and Bharati. Crew, Training, COVID-19 protocol Dr Shailendra Saini, Scientist of National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research (voyage leader), Anoop Kalayil Soman, scientist from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (leader, Bharati Station), and Huidrom Nageshwar Singh, meteorologist, IMD (leader, Maitri station) are leading India’s 41st expedition to Antarctica. The crew of India’s 41st expedition to Antarctica has received training for snow-ice acclimatization and survival at the mountaineering and skiing Institute ITBP Auli, Uttarakhand. As a commitment to keep Antarctica free of COVID-19, the Indian contingent has undergone a strict medical exam at AIIMS (Delhi) and a stringent sanitary protocol including a 14-days quarantine at Cape Town in South Africa. The crew is expected to return to Cape Town in March-April 2022 along with the winter team of India’s 40th expedition to Antarctica. A team of 48-members will stay back for winter. |
Indian Antarctic Program – Key Points
The Indian Antarctic Program was launched in 1981. The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa manages the entire Indian Antarctica program. NCPOR is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
The Indian Antarctic program has completed 40 scientific expeditions. It has built three permanent research base stations in Antarctica namely DakshinGangotri (1983), Maitri (1988), and Bharati (2012). Currently, Maitri and Bharati are fully operational.
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