Hobart, Tasmania has won the right to host a prestigious Antarctic tourism conference, again proving its unique status as Australia’s “Antarctic Capital”.
May has been a busy month in the South Georgia Fishery, which opened on April 26th and catches have been good, according to the latest edition from the South Georgia newsletter.
The Royal Navy survey ship HMS Scott returned to Devonport this week after six months on deployment in the southern hemisphere. The deep-water survey ship deployed on 26 October 2009 replaced stricken HMS Endurance in Ice patrol duties.
Punta del Este, Uruguay. Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition welcomed steps at the 33rd Antarctic Treaty meeting to make climate change a major item on the agenda, and to keep momentum going on a network of Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean.
The financial statements from the government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands ending December 2008 show a healthy surplus with fisheries licences, tourism and stamps, the three main sources of revenue.
Uruguay is hosting two Antarctic Treaty meetings which will officially be opened Monday May 3 in Punta del Este by Foreign Affairs minister Luís Almagro. Uruguayan authorities expect an attendance of over 350 foreign officials at the Thirty three Antarctic Treaty Consultative and the Thirteenth Committee on Environmental Protection meetings.
Work in Japan and Australia has revealed that a deep-ocean current is carrying frigid water rapidly northward from Antarctica along the edge of a giant underwater plateau.
The Antarctica season beginning in November is likely to be the last one as it has been known. Proposed changes to the type of fuel ships are allowed to burn and carry in this fragile ecosystem have now become a reality, making the future of big cruise ships in Antarctica uncertain.
China has sent its ocean-going fishing vessels Kai li and An Xin Hai to the Antarctic for the 2010 krill fishing season. During a 23 day exploratory fishing they caught 2.000 tons of krill, with a daily output of 100 tons, three times than originally expected.
Beginning in August 2011, most large cruise ships will no longer be able to sail in Antarctica. The International Maritime Organization last week adopted a ban on using and carrying heavy fuel oil on ships operating in Antarctic waters.