The James Clark Ross, the new Ukrainian polar research ship recently purchased from the United Kingdom, has moored in the Ukrainian waters for the first time, taking her new role as the flagship of the country’s scientific fleet.
The vessel has completed a 2.5-week odyssey between Denmark’s Frederikshavn and Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa by midday on Oct. 5.
According to Ukraine’s National Antarctic Scientific Center, the ship flew Ukrainian colors at the command of its new captain, Oleh Novosylniy, who was mentored by his British counterpart, Simon Welles.
“Necessary paperwork will be finalized in the coming weeks, and the vessel will undergo a technical inventory,” the Ukrainian polar research agency said on Oct. 5. “Then, there will be the vessel’s official media presentation, and her new name is going to be announced.”
The ship would then be ready for its future missions.
Ukraine purchased James Clark Ross in August from the U.K. for nearly $5 million, which Ukrainian polar agency head Evgen Dykyj called “a giveaway price.”
Named after 19th-century polar explorer, the 5,732-ton ship had served with British Antarctic Survey since 1990. But in spite of its venerable age, James Clark Ross can stay in service for up to 25 more years, according to Ukrainian estimates.
This is the first major acquisition for the Ukrainian Antarctic Center in decades and is considered by many a landmark for Ukrainian science, which suffers from poor financing.
Since 1996, Ukraine has kept a scientific mission at the Akademik Vernadskiy station in Antarctica, which was also purchased from Britain at a token price of 1 pound sterling.
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The ship is expected to finally help get rid of the station’s logistics issues, which forced the Antarctic mission to adhere to expensive third-party transportation. In fact, the country had no major transport facilities in the region before the purchase.
The agency also wants to launch more scientific expeditions into the Southern Ocean and beyond.
Following the purchase in August, Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science said it had hoped to send a scientific mission to the station onboard the James Clark Ross as soon as 2021.
