The Navy at the 29th Expedition of the National Antarctic Research Program

29/01/14

The cargo oceanographic ship Italica, on which the nucleus of hydrographic specialists and non-commissioned technical logistic specialists of the Navy is embarked, participating in the 29th expedition of the National Research Program in Antarctica, received the 9 in January in view of the Italian Station “Mario Zucchelli "To allow the disembarkation of personnel and scientific equipment for ground operations.

Eleven are the days of navigation used by Italy to reach it, starting from the port of Lyttleton (New Zealand) and crossing the dreaded "Convergence Zone" of the Southern Ocean, bounded by 60 ° latitude, where the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific meet, giving rise to the famous storms that the history of navigation has handed down. With a bit of luck, the crossing of the personnel of the XXIX Expedition was characterized by constant good weather. Only the images can describe the spectacle that was presented to the crew around 70 ° south latitude, when the sea opened again, showing only sporadic "white floating islands". It is the famous "Polynya" of Terra Nova, a sea area which, thanks to the winds coming from the inside of the continent, called katabatic (very cold and fast up to 300 km / h), remains free from ice for the summer months and constitutes the engine of ocean currents to the equator.

Among the research groups on board, the hydrographic nucleus of the Navy was one of the first to operate, during the current Antarctic campaign, once the landing operations were completed. The bottom data was immediately acquired with the single beam echo sounders supplied with the unit, completing more than 80% of the work planned for the creation of the international nautical chart 885 (INT 9000).

On board the Italica there are two hydrographic officers of the Italian Navy: Lieutenant Fabio Marziani (Hydro-oceanographic ship Arethusa) and Lieutenant Octavio Patulli (Hydro-oceanographic vessel Admiral Magnaghi).

At the same time, as part of the technical-logistic support unit for scientific activities, two non-commissioned officers pilots (the Royal Lieutenant Francesco and the 1st Marshal Risina Santi Daniele) worked together with staff of the COMSUBIN, present at the Italian base as early as October, concurrent with the opening phase of the structure.

The acquisition of scientific data is still underway by the various research groups that make up the XXIX Italian Expedition to Antarctica.

Source: Military Navy