Polar Radar for Ice Sheet Measurements

Special Report: General Cargo

I said I’d tell you something about the cargo we have on board for use on the ship. I mentioned we had 16 items with a total volume of 219 M3 and weighing 34,920 kgs. None of this is involved with actually running the ship or any of the food or drinks we have on board.

This stuff includes the equipment we needed for the sediment traps program, but also -

• an electronics workshop Container with plenty of electronic bits and pieces for keeping the scientific apparatus on board working properly;
• there is a Container Gordon manages - it contains mail going to the stations plus various emergency supplies like extra boots and socks and woollen balaclavas, and also things like sleds, ice axes, shovels, emergency rations and so on to equip and maintain a three person rescue or reconnaissance party should we be caught in sea ice and have to consider our rescue and survival options;
• there are also two Meteorological Buoys which we will be putting into the ocean in a couple of weeks time but I’ll tell you more about those at the time;
• we also have some hose reels, booster pumps and gear which we need to be able to transfer 640,000 litres of diesel fuel to the storage tanks at Davis station; I’ll tell you more about that when we do the job.
  

I think that sort of brings you up to date about the ship, its crew, the passengers and the cargo we are carrying.

Ooroo