Ivan Papanin Has Made it to Breid Bay
The Ivan Papanin cargo ship started making its way through the sea ice on Friday December 14. She was anchored to the sea ice near Breid Bay around 7 pm that night. The exact location has been named Crown Bay (70°S 23°E), because of the shape of a nearby iceberg.
A white out on Friday evening forced the team to postpone the unloading procedure. They were able to begin the operations the following morning, using the Hammar side loaders.
The Prinoth tractors and sledges have been loaded with the first containers and driven up the snow ramp that the coast team had built before the ship came into the Bay. When enough containers have made it up the ice-shelf, the snow tractors will begin the first convoy traverse to the Utsteinen base camp. The entire unloading procedure should take about 5-6 days.
Picture: The ship beginning to force his way through the ice of the Crown bay - Copyright: International Polar Foundation - © International Polar Foundation