First Italian Expedition to Antarctica, 1975–76

The 15-man expedition did not get off to a good start. The ship originally chartered for the Antarctic voyage, the Repunte , was impounded in a Uruguayan shipyard and vital supplies were sequestered by the Uruguayan customs authorities. It was in a Norwegian vessel, the Rig Mate , that the party eve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Record
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1977
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740000067x
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740000067X
Description
Summary:The 15-man expedition did not get off to a good start. The ship originally chartered for the Antarctic voyage, the Repunte , was impounded in a Uruguayan shipyard and vital supplies were sequestered by the Uruguayan customs authorities. It was in a Norwegian vessel, the Rig Mate , that the party eventually landed at Admiralty Bay, on King George Island. The original intention had been to set up a permanent base on Ross Island, but the delay in Montevideo called for a change of plan. So the first Italian base in the Antarctic was established at Admiralty Bay, at a spot named ‘Conca Italia’ by the expedition. The base is well suited for eight people, with an area of 80 m 2 instead of the planned 130 m 2 .