Mawson resupply and handover
The resupply, refuel and handover of Mawson Station from a proud 78th ANARE to the highly capable 79th ANARE has been our single focus for the past 10 days. The preparations started prior to Christmas 2025 with some epic container movement around the tricky Mawson Station, where flat ground is a premium and your appreciation of the plant operator's skill and precision with the front end loader sky rockets. It's the station supply officer's time to shine and for the past eight weeks, his knowledge of the resupply business, the value of being organised, the importance of having your eCon and manifest meticulously detailed, and knowing the tricks of the trade all pays dividend at the time that the Nuyina arrives in Kista Strait and resupply commences.
For the chef, their days are long and the numbers on station doubles. During that busy fortnight of resupply, 2x ANARE groups plus plenty of ship visitors to station means the kitchen is a busy place, that dishes pile high, that the bain maries are fully stocked and the coffee machine gets a solid and constant work out. The meals are prepared to feed the resupply army, while the handovers and tips are being played out in real time with no fuss.
The outgoing trades teams are focused on their handovers. Systematically working through checklists, procedurers, processes and operating instructions, perhaps the most important task is to share the lessons learnt over the past 15 months, the handy hints, the unwritten advice and passing on some of the hidden secrets of the place, that only a handfull of people are across and aware of.
From the dieso to the sparky, from the plumber to the chippy, the station's trades team work their magic to keep the lights on, heaters running, water flowing, engines purring and our environments confortable.
The BOM teams shadow each other with observations, balloon releases, tech repairs and stories of wind weather events, katabatic records, blizz thresholds, octas and broken equipment due to the harsh Antarctic conditions. The Stevenson Screen and Campbell-Stocks become real while the juggling of BOM and AAD commitments is an ever present energy expense.
The senior comms techs are super efficient with their knowledge exchange - perhaps the biggest value of return expeditioners. There's a quiet confidence in the SCTO office as the handover flicks between VHF Radios to GPS tracking to password resets, to ARPANSA, MagneticObs, to StarLink (both AAD and the one we can't talk about), wifi, logins, batteries - the list goes on.
The field training officers' happy place is out of the office and into the field. An overnighter to familiarise themselves with the local scene, to recalibrate the senses to Antarctica, to test systems, and discuss seasonal changes is professionally undertaken. The incoming Mawson FTO is a recent returnee, which makes this handover even more efficent and effective.
The medical practitioners get busy walking and talking while receiving an amount of goods and supplies that any third world nation would be envious of. Our AAD Doctors are next level capable. They express composure, calculation, credibility and great humour, while looking after the welfare of all on station. The medical ward is a hive of activity, which you only wish upon the medical centre during resupply and not for medical reasons.
As for the station leaders, we admire our teams, their capacity to share, to support the next expeditioner, to handover and receive a station in a good state. And to the departing crew, letting go of the things they've held close for all those months is part of the process. Stepping away from the darts board, the favourite seat, the routine, the exercise, the walking routes, the habits and starting to adjust to a different rhythum is upon us. The new expedtioners of the 79th are more than ready. They have a magical place to steward and explore, and it's obvious their hearts will also be filled with the Mawson Station experience.
Resupply 2026 yielded a successful 100 per cent cargo discharge, close to 100 per cent of return to Australia (RTA) cargo loaded, refuelling success over early season sea ice and the exchange of the station keys from outgoing to incoming expeditioners.
To the 78th - we've added our names to the history books of Mawson. We thrived - not just survived - as we set the place up well for the future and we had a lot of twists ands turns along the way.
"We did good - perhaps even great" and we've earnt our voyage home on the impressive Nuyina.
