The icebreaker ARA “Almirante Irízar” returned to the port of Buenos Aires after having carried out various tests of systems and machines, prior to the start of the Summer Antarctic Campaign (CAV) 2022/23.
Off the coast of Mar del Plata, the ship completed various training and enlistment activities for its next departure to the white continent.
The icebreaker ARA “Almirante Irízar” returned to the port of Buenos Aires after having carried out various tests of systems and machines, prior to the start of the Summer Antarctic Campaign (CAV) 2022/23.
Off the coast of Mar del Plata, the ship completed various training and enlistment activities for its next departure to the white continent.
In this framework, the endowment fulfilled abandonment zafarranchos; fire fighting and damage control exercises; exercises with emergency light signals; role of small boats and man overboard exercises.
The main objective of these exercises is aimed at ensuring that the ship’s crew is prepared and trained to act optimally in the event of a possible emergency or accident on board.
Likewise, personnel from the Tactical Divers Group carried out an exercise on board and aircraft launch and recovery maneuvers were carried out with Fennec helicopters from the First Naval Air Helicopter Squadron and load transport with Bell 212 and 214 helicopters from the VII Air Brigade of the Argentine Air Force.
In addition, on the observation bridge, specialists gave lectures on Maritime Interests, International Relations, Gender Training for the crew and on the history of the Antarctic Summer Campaigns.
Regarding the balance of this navigation, the Second Commander of the unit, Commander Guillermo Daniel Ortega, was very satisfied with the activities and tasks carried out. “The result was extremely positive, the human group behaved as expected and the boat responded as it always does. We closed the test with something useful, such as the fact of being able to capture in these five days everything we learned during the year in order to be ready for the next season”.
For his part, the Unit Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer Gustavo Oscar Figueroa, stressed that this type of test allows the Commander to know the level of operational training that the crew has. And he added: “Each of the people that make up this crew had a great performance in their work, they all carried out their activities and maneuvers with great responsibility. The way they performed was excellent.”
Simultaneously with the rest of the exercises, the systems, equipment, and procedures of the unit’s Machinery Department were tested in order to ensure their optimal functioning.
In this way, tests were carried out to check the status of all systems, engines, generators and auxiliary equipment on board.
The Head of the Machinery Department, Lieutenant Commander David Alejandro Villegas, expressed: “After the 2021/22 Campaign ended, the ship had a significant turnover of personnel, so it was necessary to start with their specific instruction. At the same time, routine maintenance and repairs began to face the next campaign”.
One of the specific tests carried out by the icebreaker was the practice of the so-called “Crash-Stop”; Maneuver in which the ship is taken to its maximum speed and then put engines behind and brake the unit with the purpose of measuring the time in which the propellers stop and at what distance the ship stops.
Midshipmen recently graduated from the Naval Military School participated in the navigation, training in abandonment and survival techniques and carried out guard practices on the command bridge.
Cadets from the “Almirante Storni” Naval Military High School, from Posadas, Misiones province, also embarked, who received classes on board, performed assistant signalman internships on the command bridge, and participated in the clearing.
The ship will remain moored in the North Dock during a readiness period, prior to setting sail to start the Summer Antarctic Campaign, under the operational command of the Joint Antarctic Command, during which support will be provided to the Argentine joint Antarctic bases and scientific activity. that takes place there.
