The Antarctic mission of the icebreaker Laura Bassi is over

After travelling more than 12,000 nautical miles and 46 days from the port of Lyttelton in New Zealand, the icebreaker Laura Bassi has arrived in the port of Trieste, completing a mission in the Antarctic that lasted more than two months. The ship recently completed its research activities as part of the oceanographic campaign of the 40th scientific expedition to Antarctica, funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) under the National Antarctic Research Programme (PNRA) and managed by the National Research Council (CNR) for the scientific coordination, by ENEA for the planning and logistical organisation of the activities at the Antarctic bases and by the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics – OGS for the technical and scientific management of the icebreaker Laura Bassi.

During this mission, the icebreaker completed two rotations from New Zealand to Antarctica, circumnavigating the Ross Sea and arriving at the Italian Antarctic base “Mario Zucchelli” (MZS) for logistical and support activities. On 5 March, it left New Zealand on a route across the southern Pacific, rounded Cape Horn and then sailed downwind across the Atlantic. After a stopover in Milazzo and one in Ancona, it has now landed in Trieste.