On November 15, Fedor Konyukhov’s next expeditionary mission began in the Argentine port of Ushuaia. This time, the famous traveler set off for Antarctica, where he will spend four months at a one-person research station.
According to Oskar Konyukhov, the son and chief of staff of the traveler, in January 2022, Fedor Filippovich visited the South Shetland Islands archipelago and chose the optimal location for the future one-person station — the Elephant Point area on Smolensk Island (Livingston).
The approval process for the establishment of a one-person seasonal station in Antarctica lasted about a year. It was only on November 6, 2025, that Roshydromet officially gave the go-ahead to the Russian traveler to operate in Antarctica, where there is a very strict regime of stay and activity, primarily related to environmental restrictions.
The scientific partners of the expedition are the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Using their methodology and technologies, Fedor Konyukhov will conduct a series of scientific studies and experiments to determine the content of microplastics in the coastal waters of Antarctica.
Currently, the two-masted schooner Amazon is crossing the Drake Passage separating South America from Antarctica. Besides the traveler himself, there is a team of assistants on board who, before leaving him completely alone, will deal with the construction and technical configuration of the station. According to Konyukhov’s plan, it will consist of three tents: one for performing experiments and at the same time a workshop; the second, a residential one; and the third, an improvised chapel.
The famous traveler on the captain's bridge of the schooner Amazon, which will take him to the Sixth Continent. Photo courtesy of Fedor Konyukhov's expeditionary headquarters
In addition to research, Fedor Filippovich plans to engage in creative work: to create several paintings and write another book. The station will be operational until mid-March. Approximately once every three weeks, expedition vessels from RUSARC or the University of Marine Practice will enter the waters of Smolensk Island to monitor the technical condition of the one-person station and the well-being of the traveler, who will turn 74 on December 12, 2025.
As Oskar Konyukhov noted, the creation of a Russian one-person Antarctic station on Smolensk Island is not only a scientific mission, but also a contribution to the preservation of Russian-speaking toponymy in Antarctica. This task was outlined by Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society back in 2018.
«Our project once again reminds the world of the history of the discovery of Antarctica as a continent and a number of subantarctic islands — Smolensk, Borodino, Maloyaroslavets — by Russian sailors,» said Fedor Konyukhov’s chief of staff.