L’Astrolabe Loads for Antarctic Mission in Tasmania

L’Astrolabe Loads for Antarctic Mission in Tasmania – SeaWaves – the BEST naval news since 1995

November 11, 2019 (Google Translation) – At the end of October, the polar patrol boat L’Astrolabe takes up summer quarters in Hobart, Tasmania. Gateway to East Antarctica since the very first expedition of Captain Jules Sebastian César Dumont d’Urville to the great white continent unknown in 1840, this small town at the end of the world, with its particular charm, has since become a logistical node for nations with a permanent presence in this region of Antarctica.

This is the case of France, which has implanted since the fifties, a permanent station in Terre Adélie, named “DDU”, a contraction of the name of the illustrious sailor who once glimpsed this coast and baptized it in homage to his wife Adele. DDU is the starting point for land convoys to Concordia’s French-Italian continental station , whose position on Dome C makes it an exceptional place for scientific research.

Put at the disposal of the French Polar Institute (IPEV) during the austral summer, L’Astrolabe is the only maritime bridge of the long and fragile logistic chain which underlies the operation of the two stations.

Having left Port-des-Galets on October 25th, L’Astrolabe will load at Hobart, between November 10th and 13th, about one hundred and fifty tons of freight and two hundred and fifty tons of special diesel fuel Antarctic Blend. Will also embark thirty passengers. He is expected to DDU on November 22nd.