Indian team leaves for Antarctica

By M.S. Prabhakara

CAPE TOWN, DEC. 31. The 20th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica aboard the Magdalena Oldendorff, a chartered German vessel (of Liberian registry), sailed from Cape Town harbour on Saturday night.

This is the second time that an Indian Antarctic Expedition is setting out from Cape Town. Earlier, the ship arrived here from Marmagao harbour. However, two years ago the decision was taken to sail from Cape Town, with substantial savings in costs.

The expedition, launched under the overall co- ordination and supervision of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa, is being led by Mr. Mervin D'Souza, a geologist with the Geological Survey of India, for whom this will be the fifth journey. The 54-member team, representing various scientific and related disciplines, includes 39 scientists from the fields of atmospheric sciences, geology and glaciology, biology and environmental sciences, global weather change research, human biology, engineering and communication sciences. The lone woman member is a communication scientist attached to Chennai airport.

Specialised logistic support is being provided by a contingent of the Indian Army and scientists from the DRDO.

Essentially a replacement team, they include members who will return around March along with those who have been ``wintering'' in Antarctic over the past 15 months, as well as others who in turn will be starting their own 15 month-long ``wintering'' sojourn.

The Office of the Indian High Commission here on Saturday evening, hosted a reception for the mostly young and enthusiastic team members, who were greeted by the new Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Shiv Shankar Mukherjee.

The vessel is expected to reach its destination on January 9, 20 years to the day when the first Indian expedition landed in Antarctica in 1981.

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