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The English icebreaker “James Clark Ross” and the scientific ship “Belgica” were given new names – “Noosphere” and “Boris Oleksandrov“.
UA reports this with reference to Radio Liberty.
The first name was chosen because one of the main tasks of the icebreaker will be to transport scientific staff to the station “Academician Vernadsky”. The station is named after a Ukrainian scientist whose ideas led to the formation of the concept of “noosphere”.
Borys Oleksandrov is the late director of the Institute of Marine Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He died in a fire that almost completely destroyed the institute building in early December 2019.
Ukraine received “Belgica” as a gift from the Belgian government. The vessel will be used for Black Sea monitoring, including seabed surveys and environmental data collection. The ship entered Odessa on October 21, 2021. She is planned to be sent to the first expedition in December this year.
Ukraine bought the James Clark Ross icebreaker in August 2021, and in early October she also arrived in Odessa. At the time of launch, the icebreaker was one of the top three scientific vessels in the world.
She will also travel to the south of the globe soon, but must first undergo maintenance.
However, according to director of the National Antarctic Research Center Yevhen Dykyi, they do not expect any problems with the icebreaker. She will go on an expedition either in mid-December or early 2022.
“The icebreaker successfully travelled from Denmark to Ukraine in full autonomy, bypassing the entire Europe. That is, there are no questions about the ship’s properties. But while it’s one thing to cross Europe, another is to go to the glaciers. We insist that we want to do the first service before leaving for Antarctica. This is somewhere in the second half of November” – said the scientist.
The Ministry of Education and Science added that thanks to the icebreaker, Ukrainian scientists will be able to not only return to the study of the World Ocean, but also solve logistical problems at the Antarctic station “Academician Vernadsky“. And also expand the opportunities of seasonal expeditions.
Read also: Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to revive Ukraine’s research fleet
