Round-the-World Expedition - 200th Anniversary of the Discovery of Antarctica

On December 3rd, 2019, a round-the-world oceanographic expedition on the ships of the Hydrographic Service of the Russian Navy departed from Kronstadt. The expedition is conducted by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation together with the Russian Geographical Society. The voyage is timed to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica by Russian sailors Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, as well as the 250th birthday anniversary of Admiral Ivan Kruzenshtern.

The voyage is planned in such a way that on January 28th, 2020, on the day the sixth continent was discovered, the ship will arrive at the Russian Antarctic station «Bellingshausen». There, the expedition members will take part in the anniversary events dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica.

The expedition route follows the path of the ships of Bellingshausen and Lazarev. On the «Admiral Vladimirsky» oceanographic research vessel, the participants of the round-the-world expedition will pass through the Baltic and North Seas, and the waters of the World Ocean. After working in the Antarctic, the ship will return home through the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. The voyage will end on June 6th, 2020 in Kronstadt. The distance covered will be about 40 thousand miles.

On board the «Admiral Vladimirsky» is a large group of researchers, including the scientific group of the Russian Geographical Society, whose members were selected based on the results of the All-Russian competition.

The round-the-world oceanographic expedition is of great scientific importance. Extensive oceanographic and hydrometeorological studies will be conducted in the Antarctic seas, and unique bathymetric data will be obtained. This will significantly enrich the climate database, which is in demand by research organizations. Large-scale hydrographic work will be carried out in the Bellingshausen Sea: photographing the bottom topography, topographic surveying, determining the sea level. The data obtained will update the Russian navigational chart INT9172, created in 1998. In the D’Urville Sea, scientists will clarify the location of the south magnetic pole of our planet. The route measurements will be used to clarify information in nautical charts.

For hydrographic and hydrological studies, exclusively Russian-made equipment is used. When the ship returns home, scientists will analyze the gathered information, after which the data will be published.

Peter I Island Turned Out To Be Farther Than Maps Show

The research vessel «Admiral Vladimirsky» with the participants of the Round-the-world Oceanographic Expedition on board specified the coordinates and size of Peter I Island off the coast of Antarctica. The next goal is to locate the Earth’s south magnetic pole. The crew hopes that the coronavirus pandemic will not affect the schedule of the expedition. Read more…

The head of the round-the world expedition spoke about the possibility of new scientific discoveries

On January 21st, the expeditionary ship «Admiral Vladimirsky», with the participants of the Round-the-world Oceanographic Expedition on board, headed for Antarctica, leaving the port of Montevideo. The journey is timed to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica by Russian sailors Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, as well as the 250th birthday anniversary of Admiral Ivan Kruzenshtern. Our journalist learned from the head of the expedition, Oleg Osipov, how the expedition is going and what scientists want to discover during the trip. Read more…