EURASIA Russian Antarctic Expedition OE Watch Commentary: Although Russia focuses its media and resources on the Arctic, it has long been involved in Antarctica too. Russia has maintained Vostok station as a year-round research site since 1957. Vostok is located at the southern Pole of Cold-the coldest place on the planet where the temperature has measured -89.2º Centigrade [-128.6º Fahrenheit]. The country also conducts an annual Antarctic scientific shipboard expedition. This year’s expedition includes naval cadets who will get a good taste of cold water navigation. Usually these expeditions go without a hitch, however in 2013, the Russians made headlines when the Akademik Shokolskiy became stuck in Antarctic waters and the US, China, France and Australia had to rescue its passengers. End OE Watch Commentary (Grau)

“Russian explorers plan to update the position of the South Magnetic Pole – the arbitrary point on the planet’s surface, in which the Earth’s magnetic field is directed strictly upward.”

Source: Olga Kolentsova and Aleksey Kozachenko, “We Will Have Something To Say to the World Scientific Community”-Interview with Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Anatolyevich Yevmenov, Izvestia, 3 December 2019. https://iz.ru/

We Will Have Something to say to the World Scientific Community [Kolentsova/Kozachenko] Nikolay Anatolyevich, today the sendoffs are occurring forthe Russian Navy Oceanographic Research Vessel “Admiral Vladimirskiy” on the Antarctic Expedition. Please tell us, how did the idea of the circumnavigation emerge? [Yevmenov] The Russian Fleet and later the Russian Navy over the course of centuries has occupied the leading positions in the exploration of the seas and oceans. These positions continue to be strengthened even today. In accordance with the decision of Russian Federation Defense Minister General of the Army S.K. Shoygu, the conduct of the circumnavigational oceanographic expedition has been planned from December 2019 to June 2020. It is dedicated to the 200th Anniversary of the Discovery of Antarctica and the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of I.F Krusenstern. Our round-the-world cruise will continue the traditions of domestic seafaring. The Expedition’s Plan was painstakingly developed by the Navy Main Command. [Kolentsova/Kozachenko] Which vessels, besides the “Admiral Vladimirskiy”, will participate in the expeditions? [Yevmenov] The Oceanographic Research Vessel “Admiral Vladimirskiy” will be the first to depart Kronshtadt... During the course of the expedition, the Hydrographic Vessel “Marshal Gelovani” and the Oceanographic Research Vessel “Yantar” will join it on certain sectors of the route. The expedition’s route is planned so that the “Admiral Vladimirskiy” and the “Yantar” will arrive at the Russian “Bellingshausen” Antarctic Station, where commemorative events will occur, on 28 January of next year, the Day of the Discovery of Antarctica…. The “Admiral Vladimirskiy’s” path will pass across the Atlantic Ocean to Antarctica and later return across the Southern (Antarctic) and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea. It will have to sail a distance over more than 40,000 nautical miles. All of the vessels will visit the ports of foreign states along the travel route – among them are Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Messina, Port Victoria, and Limassol, and many others… [Kolentsova/Kozachenko] What are the expedition’s main goals? [Yevmenov] … In accordance with the Russian Federation’s international obligations on the creation of navigation charts and keeping them up to date, we envision the accomplishment of hydrographic work (surveying the bottom topography and observation of the sea level) during the course of the expedition in the Bellingshausen Sea. The materials of this work will permit the republication of the Russian Navigation Chart INT9172 that was published in 1998. The data on the underway surveys will be used to update the information on the navigation charts of all of the seas and oceans. They plan to accomplish work to update the location of the South Magnetic Pole in the D’Urville Sea. The vessels’ … plan to get unique bathymetric data, conduct oceanographic and hydrometeorological research in the seas, which wash Antarctica, which will permit the substantial augmentation of the climate data bases….All of the data that has been obtained during the course of the expedition will be analyzed by the RF Ministry of Defense Navigation and Oceanography Directorate and the Navy Hydrographic Service in cooperation with the profile scientific organizations…. [Kolentsova/Kozachenko] Who, besides the scientists and the vessels’ crews, will participate in the expedition? [Yevmenov] Fourteen cadets of the Naval Corps of Peter the Great Navigation-Hydrographic Department will participate in the expedition. This is a unique practical experience of hydrographic exploration for them, which is important for the cadets’ future growth. I am confident that they will arrive in the fleets as professional practitioners after this cruise and the completion of their studies. The Navy is very closely cooperating with the Russian Geographic Society in this expedition. This cooperation is very effective and that is how it has been since the times of the founding of the Russian Geographic Society. We work together on all projects, which concern the multiplication of the traditions of the history of Russian navigation.... “Russian explorers plan to update the position of the South Magnetic Pole – the arbitrary point on the planet’s surface, in which the Earth’s magnetic field is directed strictly upward. This work is among the missions of the Antarctic Expedition, which is dedicated to the 200th Anniversary of the Discovery of Antarctica by Admirals F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev and the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of I.F Krusenstern. The first vessel of the round-the-world cruise will depart from Kronshtadt on 3 December. During the course of the expedition, they plan to use only Russian equipment for the hydrographic and hydrologic explorations…”

OE Watch | January 2020 24