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Apologies for the delay in the sitrep. Our day has been consumed with keeping abreast of the incident involving the French Antarctic Program. This afternoon we were saddened to hear there were no survivors from the crash. As a mark of respect for our French colleagues, we observed one minute of silence. Our thoughts go out to the Master, crew, and expeditioners aboard the research vessel L’Astrolabe and at the French base Durmont D’Urville, and we extend our sympathy to the families and friends of the four French expeditioners who lost their lives. We are currently remaining in the vicinity of the L’Astrolabe in case we can offer any assistance while she is transiting through the ice. Today we had our scheduled muster drill that included an emergency exercise. All expeditioners mustered on the heli-deck while our Crisis Response team worked with the ship’s crew in a simulated emergency. For the first time everyone was grateful for the warmth of their survival gear; the outside temperature was around 1 degree and those not part of an emergency team were required to wait on deck for 45 minutes until the scenario was completed. It was a useful and productive exercise for everyone to familiarise themselves with their roles and with others in their respective emergency response teams. Last night saw the first iceberg of the voyage ‘observed’ but not ‘sighted’. The berg could only be picked up on the ship’s radar as visibility was down to about 1 nautical mile at the time due to snow. Word is we are just about to officially ‘sight’ the first ice-berg for our voyage. REGARDS: Karin, Sharon & Lance
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.