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The Aurora Australis completed refuelling Mawson station today, with just over 400,000L transferred ashore by 1630 local time (2230 Hobart time / AEST). The wind and weather remained favourable throughout the day, and with most of the equipment already in place and both vessel-based and station personnel familiar with the refuelling arrangements, the refuelling was completed safely and without difficulty.
Fuel was pumped again through the 500 – 600 metres of hose from the ship to the shore with monitoring teams in place throughout the exercise, starting with the engineers within the vessel's engine rooms and then others stationed every 200 metres across to the station. The lead refuelling team of Brad Collins, Mike Sparg and Flinders Johnston coordinated the pumping arrangements and provided guidance to ship & shore parties on technical matters throughout. The watercraft team led by senior coxswain and voyage Watercraft Coordinator Rupert Davies, maintained a presence on the water from the time the jet barge and inflatable boat were first discharged around 0800, until the vessel's mooring lines over West Arm were retrieved and the last passengers were safely aboard this evening.
The watercraft team conduct all boating, cargo and support operations within strict parameters established following decades of Antarctic operations under the testing weather and environmental conditions typically encountered in this part of the world, and acknowledging the limited resources available under our isolated circumstances. For many within the current watercraft team, although experienced professionals within maritime and associated industries back in Australia, this voyage has been their first taste of handling watercraft in support of the AAD's operations in the Antarctic. Several others however, have been travelling to the Antarctic for many years – with the Watercraft Coordinator Rupert Davies and another of the senior coxswains aboard, Ollie Hentschel, having participated in Australia's Antarctic program in one form or another for over 20 years. While working within small teams, under very cold, wet and testing conditions – can sometimes be frustrating for even the most resilient individuals, there's definitely something unique and enjoyable about the work – as they keep coming back.
Operations in the Antarctic are often just as rewarding as they are challenging, and following the completion of efforts today around 2000, there were still plenty of expeditioners taking the opportunity to head out onto the upper decks to witness the magnificence of another partial Antarctic sunset. The effect of the light at this latitude in summer, even with the sun dipping towards the horizon, can be difficult to describe. Sunlight is returned equally from multi-faceted walls of nearby glacial tongues, from the great long planes of the ice plateau and from those nearby coastal waters not still covered by sea ice. To the observer, the surfaces of both natural and manmade features hidden from the sun towards the end of the day - may as well already be in darkness – such is the contrast between areas of shadow and those reflecting the intense light.
Perhaps its scenery such as this which lead many expeditioners and crew - whether they're experiencing the Antarctic for the first time or veterans of multiple seasons - to speak of 'travelling South' as being somewhat like an addiction. That may sound unrealistic, but for those who have experienced the vast, uninhabited wilderness of Antarctica, it's difficult to imagine that anyone returning home from this environment would not also feel they were leaving something behind.
Cheers
Mark & Fred
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.