Today, on November 6, the oceanographic research ship Admiral Vladimirsky of the Russian Navy has departed from Kronstadt and set off for the Antarctic, says press center of RF Defence Ministry.
The expedition has been prepared upon the order and under the control of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Viktor Chirkov.
In the course of the expedition, the Admiral Vladimirsky will cover over 30 000 nautical miles following the prescribed route and then will return to Kronstadt in April 2016.
Before the start of the expedition, Admiral Viktor Chirkov addressed to the crew members who take part in the unprecedented cruise. He noted that the participants of the expedition were to not only demonstrate the Russian flag in Antarctica, but also to do a great work including hydrographical and meteorological research of the water zones of the Antarctic for correction of navigational international maps.
This will be the complex research. The expedition includes military hydrographers of the 6th Atlantic oceanographic expedition of the Baltic Fleet hydrographic service, representatives of the Russian State Hydrographic University, the Institute of the Arctic and the Antarctic as well as of the Hydrometeorological service of the Russian Armed Forces.
The ship will visit the ports of Algeria, Suez (Egypt), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Victoria (the Seychelles), Madagascar, Maputo (Mozambik), Cape Town (South Africa), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Luanda (Angola), Lisbon (Portugal).
The oceanographic ship Admiral Vladimirsky has undergone scheduled repairing within the preparations for the cruise in Saint Petersburg. It was equipped with additional devices for hydrographic research.