The Chief of Staff, Santiago Cafiero, together with the Minister of Defense, Agustín Rossi, the Minister of Foreign Relations, Felipe Solá and the Secretary of Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic, Daniel Filmus, headed the launching ceremony of the 117th Summer Antarctic Campaign (SAC) 2020-2021 at the naval station of the City of Buenos Aires. This year Argentina begins its SAC under strict sanitary protocols in order to make sure that the white continent remains free of COVID-19.
“The Irízar icebreaker campaign reflects the ethics of care of sovereignty and natural resources, an ethic similar to the one we had to apply on continental land with the pandemic: the ethics of care of health, family income and our productive capacity” stated Cafiero during the ceremony, held last December 4.
For his part, Rossi highlighted that “Antarctica is a permanent goal of Argentine policy, a task that finds the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working together”.
“The Armed Forces provide logistical support to all the scientific activity carried out in Antarctica” said the Minister, and he assured that this year a challenge was posed about carrying out the summer Antarctic campaigns, not only for Argentina but also for the other countries, in terms of the preventions demanded by the pandemic.
“We decided to carry out a campaign under strict protocols and to that end we reduced the number of military and scientific staff involved”, said Rossi, accompanied by the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Juan Martín Paleo.
Meanwhile, Filmus underlined that Argentina “reaffirms national sovereignty over Antarctica with a view based on scientific research and environmental protection” regarding the uninterrupted presence of our country on the white continent since 1904.
“We proudly bid farewell to the scientists and technicians of the Argentine Antarctic Institute, dependent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who travel on the Almirante Irízar icebreaker headed to the Argentine bases where they contribute with their presence and work to generate sovereignty” he concluded.
The operation of the six permanent Argentine bases in Antarctica is expected, but the seven seasonal bases that only open in summer will not do so this year and will only have a supervision of their building structure. The Esperanza base, the only one inhabited by families, will only receive military and scientific staff this year.
The main goal of this campaign is to supply and relieve the staff of the six permanent joint bases, support essential scientific activities and honor international commitments in Antarctica, in addition to withdrawing historical waste within the framework of the 2020-24 plan, increasing food and fuel reserves and integrating the permanent bases into the defense satellite system.
Sanitary protocol
In order to effectively comply with the SAC and minimize the risks posed by coronavirus -in the only region of the planet without cases since the beginning of the pandemic- the Joint Operational Command designed an operations plan that includes the three phases that are developed annually, with the novelty of the incorporation of a preliminary phase in this edition, with the main objective of complying with a strict sanitary protocol.
These measures consist of preventive isolation for 14 days for each crew that is about to travel. It begins on the first day, when each member of the crew undergoes a PCR test, and continues with medical controls during the following two weeks, which conclude on the 14th day with another PCR test, whose non-detectable result allows them, finally, safe entry to Antarctica.
The campaign that began has a previous work of almost a year. Preparation, planning, logistics and personnel training tasks were developed. Many of the health measures due to the pandemic have already been implemented during these months.
Currently Argentina has six permanent Antarctic bases (Marambio, Orcadas, Carlini, Esperanza, San Martín and Belgrano II) and seven seasonal ones (Brown, Cámara, Decepción, Petrel, Melchior, Primavera and Matienzo).
The ARA Almirante Irízar icebreaker constitutes a fundamental piece for sustaining logistics activity in Antarctica. The mission of this ship contributes to the strengthening of the Argentine sovereign rights over the Argentine Antarctic Sector. In addition to carrying out its own campaign, Argentina will provide support to Uruguay and Brazil.
