The 29 countries party to the Antarctic Treaty unanimously agreed on Wednesday to a resolution at the 39th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) stating their “firm commitment to retain and continue to implement…as a matter of highest priority” the ban on mining activities in the Antarctic, which is part of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (also called the Madrid Protocol).
The Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship has carried out her first inspection of a fishing vessel in Antarctic Waters. HMS Protector met the fishing vessel while on patrol in Antarctic waters and made arrangements to carry out the inspection.
IAATO warns security measures essential for this relatively new activity. Tour operators may have to ban the use of unmanned vehicles out of environmental concerns
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has commended the Nord-Troms District Court for convicting Jarle Andhøy of violating the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.
The prospect that Antarctica could be rich in diamonds was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, following the discovery by a team of a telltale rock called kimberlite in the Prince Charles Mountains in East Antarctica.
Uruguayan Senator and presidential hopeful Constanza Moreira has clarified some of the concepts attributed to her relative to the Malvinas Islands and alleged Uruguayan sovereignty rights, which received extensive coverage in the Montevideo media and had repercussions in Argentina.
HMS Protector, the Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship, has returned to Portsmouth at the end of a nine-month deployment to the ‘Frozen Continent’. Operating in the British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands throughout the Austral Summer, the ship conducted three intensive work periods in the ice, and a fourth work period in the waters surrounding South Georgia.
The Foreign Secretary announced on Tuesday that the southern part of British Antarctic Territory has been named Queen Elizabeth Land.
Antarctica Day was inaugurated in 2010 to celebrate the 1st December 1959 signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which was adopted “with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind.”
The United Kingdom Antarctica Heritage Fund UKAHT (http://www.ukaht.org/) is seeking new candidates to work at Port Lockroy for the 2012/2013 season. Deadline for applications is at 12 noon on the 30th March.