At dawn March 22, ARA Canal Beagle transport arrived at the commercial port of the city of Ushuaia with the aim of carrying out the logistics bridge that allows the delivery of the necessary cargo for the development of the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irízar. the third and final stage of the 2022/23 Antarctic Summer Campaign (CAV).
To do this, and after completing different missions in Antarctica during the second stage of the CAV, the “Beagle” -belonging to the Naval Transport Command of the Navy- set sail towards the city of Buenos Aires on March 4, after carrying out resupply tasks at the Carlini Scientific Base, as well as the opening and closing, during the same stage, of the temporary Cámara Antarctic Base.
After eight days of navigation, the transport moored in the North Dock of the metropolitan port and began loading the material, fuel and food necessary to complete the logistic replenishment tasks in each of the bases that our country has on the white continent. After a week of hard work, the transport set sail again from the port of Buenos Aires to Ushuaia.
Avoiding the sea conditions typical of this time of year in the South Atlantic, the ARA “Canal Beagle” managed last Saturday morning to become a godmother (moor to the side) to the icebreaker and begin the transfer of more than 250,000 kg of cargo without delay. general (construction materials, paints, furnishings for the multidisciplinary Antarctic laboratory, etc.); 120,000 liters of fuel (Antarctic diesel, gas tubes, etc.) and 40,000 kg of food (dry, refrigerated and refrigerated).
Likewise, the icebreaker also transfers cargo to transport (waste and withdrawal materials), for its transfer to the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
Once the transfer tasks have been completed, which will take around three days, the icebreaker will once again head towards Antarctica where in this last stage it will work on the permanent Joint Antarctic Bases Marambio, Petrel, Esperanza, San Martín and Orcadas, the Carlini Scientific Base and Deception Temporary Base.
The Commander of the ARA “Canal Beagle” transport, Lieutenant Commander Augusto José María Amaya, highlighted that “the development of the Antarctic campaign is very positive for transport, given that we were able to carry out all the activities ordered by the Joint Antarctic Command and have the Sufficient versatility to comply with others that were added, as usually happens in this type of complex operations”, and added: “We were able to operate to provide logistical support to each of the 13 Antarctic bases that our country has on the white continent, working together with the icebreaker ‘Almirante Irízar’ and the signs ‘San Carlos Strait’ and ‘Puerto Argentino’; the latter assigned to the Combined Naval Antarctic Patrol together with the Chilean Navy”.
Meanwhile, the ARA “Canal Beagle”, after completing the logistics bridge with the “Irízar”, will remain for a few days unloading material for the Ushuaia Integrated Base, as well as the Antarctic waste collected from the Carlini Antarctic Base. Then, it will set sail again to the Argentine Sea where it will carry out various tasks, among which is the anchoring of tide gauge buoys in Peninsula Valdés, to support the investigations of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET).
Once all its tasks have been completed, the Navy transport will return to its usual station in the Port of Buenos Aires, concluding its participation in CAV 2022/23.