Mese: Settembre 2021

Kizahashi Hut is located at 69°28’ South, 39°35’ East in a beach at the headland on Skarvsnes, one of the islands of the Flatvaer group on the coast of Queen Maud Land.

Flatvaer Islands (in Norwegian: Flatvær, means “flat islands”), also known as the Ongul Islands, are a group of small islands lying at the east side of the entrance of Lützow Holm Bay, 4 km from the Antarctica coastline.

Kizahashi-hama (Kizahashi beach) was mapped from survey and aerial photographs taken during the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) 1957-1962. The name Kizahashi-hama was given by JARE in 1972.

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Kizahashi Hut at Skarvsnes stands among a field camp which consists of the main hut, a generator hut, a small (green) lab hut and a series of small tents for sleeping and work. The North Face dome tent is a science tent.

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At the light of this evidence, Kizahashi Hut will enter into the WAP-WADA Directory as WAP JPN-NEW and more precisely:

Kizahashi Hut

69°28’ South, 39°35’ East

Skarvsnes,  Lützow Holm Bay, Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica

As far as we know, Kizahashi-hama Hut is frequently visited by a Team of scientist from Japan and other different Countries who are going there for marine life observation and scientific measurement such as Geosphere and to check  maintain the AWS (Automatic Weather Station) nearby at  69º28′25″ South, 39º36′43″ East.

TNX Yath Yoshikawa JG2MLI  and Gabriele IK1NEG

Sovetskaya , 77° 58’ South, 89° 16 East was a Soviet research station in  Kaiser Wilhelm Land in Antarctica that was established on 16 February 1958 by the 3rd  Soviet Antarctic Expedition  on International Geophisic Year research work, and closed on 3 January 1959.

Antarctic Comrades (An American with the Russians in Antarctica) is  a book written by  Gilbert Dewart (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/159608932.pdf) . On it, Gilbert Dewart reports about a Sovietskaya Refuge (or Base) Here some paragraphs. We, have just add the WAP References for the sites mentioned:

… Another trail party left Mirnyy (WAP RUS-Ø7) that December: it took more fuel and supplies to Vostok, then returned to Komsomolskaya (WAP RUS-Ø5) and set out from there on a new heading in pursuit of the distant Pole of inaccessibility  (WAP RUS-NEW) –see pic aside to the right-.

Again the going was very tough, and with the season becoming dangerously late, the party pulled up at an intermediate spot on February 16, 1958, and opened Sovetskaya Station 11,700 feet above the sea. Though this position was unplanned, it was near enough to the goal, and for the scientific purpose of studying the extreme interior of the polar ice sheet it would serve as well. Six men wintered here under the leadership of V. K. Babarykin. Sovetskaya and Vostok stations both set new world records for low temperatures that winter, the final extreme minimum being-87.4° C (-125° F) at Vostok, so the Russians could now claim the “Pole of Cold.” With the three stations established on the ice plateau, plus Mirnyy, Pionerskaya, and Oazis, they now had six permanent bases in Antarctica for the second phase of the IGY in 1958. The Third Expedition, commanded by Ye. I. Tolstikov, operated this array of scientific stations.

The site was occupied for only two weeks, until the official end of the IGY, then abandoned, though the shelters and basic equipment were left intact for future use.

With the Fourth Expedition, directed by A. G. Dralkin, the Soviet Antarctic Program underwent retrenchment and a change in focus. The personnel complement was reduced from 185 to 113 men, and Sovetskaya (WAP RUS-NEW), Pionerskaya (WAP RUS-10), and Oazis (WAP RUS-NEW) were closed down in January

1959 (Oazis station was turned over to a small Polish contingent, but the Russo-Polish relationship proved acrimonious, and the Poles soon abandoned it).

Komsomolskaya was converted to seasonal use as a weather station and logistical support base for air operations in the summer. On the other hand, two thousand miles to the west, on the coast of Queen Maud Land, a landing party from the Ob established a new permanent station which was named, with history in mind again, for M. P. Lazarev, Bellingshausen’s second-in-command. Lazarev Station (WAP RUS-NEW) was intended as the base for an investigation of a nearby ice shelf and for an ambitious geological exploration program in a range of little-known mountains a short distance inland.

WAP have no evidence of any Hams that did ever operate HF from Sovetskaya Base, Lazarev and Oazis.
Thanks and credit to: Одинокий и холодный Ленин на «Полюсе недоступности» (фотогалерея) (rferl.org)

Collins Refuge,  62º 10’ South, 58º 50’ 57” West, is an Antarctic shelter located in the Collins Glacier in the Collins Bay,  Fildes Peninsula, King George Island.

It was inaugurated at the 2006-2007 season and is administrated by the Instituto Antarctico Chileno (INACH).

It has capacity for six persons in summer, and it is used for scientific research. It has communications with HF and VHF radio, satellite telephony and the logistical support comes from the Professor Julio Escudero Base (WAP CHL-Ø7), by sea.

INACH counts two refuges throughout the Chilean Antarctic Territory: Collins (WAP CHL-16) and Julio Ripamonti (WAP CHL-Ø3).  They allow geographic displacement through the territory.

The Collins Refuge stands as one of the main housing supports on the ground for Antarctic work in Fildes Bay with a laboratory module as well as magnifying glasses and microscopes are available.  A laboratory module as well as magnifying glasses and microscopes are available.

A 350 hp Yamaha ATV is also available. The Refuge (sometimes called Base) replaced one with the same name, built in 1969, given to the Uruguay Antartic Institute in 1984 and dismantled in 1989, located in where today is the Artigas Base from Uruguay.

Artigas (WAP URY-Ø1), located at 62° 11’South,  58° 51’West is a small year round Station widely spread over a mainly flat area above Collins Harbor towards the east of Maxwell Bay. The station was established in 1984 and is operated by the Instituto Antarctico Uruguayo (IAU), which is part of the Ministry of National Defense.

Antarctic Treaty Inspections Programme Report 2014-15, shows at page 90 a visit jointly undertaken by the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic in accordance with Article VII of the Antarctic Treaty and Article 14 of the Environmental Protocol, done  on January 2015 by a group of observers  of the two Nations.

(see: https://documents.ats.aq/ATCM38/att/ATCM38_att092_e.pdf)

Near  Eco-Nelson WAP CZE-Ø1 (a nongovernmental Czech facility) there is a small Refuge approximately 1 km to the east of that facility, around a small headland and situated approximately 20 meters above a gravel and rock beach.

Located at 62° 15’ South, 58° 59’ West on Nelson island the Refuge consists of a shipping container, flanked by two smaller containers. The main building contains several bunk-beds, a large amount of assorted bedding and blankets and a small store of water bottles, fruit juice and medicine.

The Refuge  was linked to, or had been used by staff from, the Great Wall Station, China (WAP CHN-Ø1). The shipping container is in poor condition with extensive rusting and exterior deterioration. A large, apparently empty, rusting gas cylinder was being used to hold the door closed.

A smaller container adjacent to the main building held a collection of waste material. The door to this structure had rusted away completely leaving the contents open to the snow and wind.

A third small container lay approximately 10m to the east and was partially filled with snow. This contained a half-full 200lt blue plastic fuel barrel, apparently containing a heating and cooking fuel such as white spirit.

The visitors’ book in the shipping container indicated that this refuge was occasionally visited by those living in the nearby vicinity, including from the Eco-Nelson facility, and it contained relatively recent entries. However, the refuge was now in very poor condition, and without adequate supplies, was not in a suitable state to act as a genuine refuge in case of a serious emergency or accident nearby.

At the light of these evidences, Stansbury Peninsula Refuge, 62°15′ South, 58°59′ West, Stansbury Peninsula, of Nelson Island,  between Edge Bay and  Fildes Starit, King George Island in the South Shetland Islands,  will enter  into the WAP-WADA Directory as WAP CHN-NEW.

As soon as an HF  Ham Radio operation from this location will  maybe on air  a relater reference number will be given.

On last August 30, 2021, a ceremony was held at the facility of the Ministry of National Defense. The Uruguayan Mail,  following the request  of the Uruguayan Antarctc Institute, presented a commemorative stamp, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the first Antarctic naval mission aboard the ship “Pedro Campbell”

TNX Istituto Antarctic Uruguayo

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Peter Campbell (1780-1832) , also known in Spanish as Pedro Campbell was an Irish naval officer who founded the Uruguayan Navy.

WAP is happy to read that next 3YØJ Expedition to Bouvet Island ( Novem,ber 2022) will be set at Kapp (Cape) Fie,  which site will enter  for now, into the WAP Directory, as WAP NOR-New

Here is the statement:
After discussing with the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) and other experts the Expeditionners have come to the conclusion that the only possible place to setup a camp SAFELY is at Cape Fie at the South East part of Bouvet. Cape Fie was first roughly charted in 1898 by a German expedition under Carl Chun, and was re-charted and named by the Norwegian expedition under Captain Harald Horntvedt who explored the area in December 1927.

Cape Fie,  54° 27′ South,  3° 28′ East  is a rock formation at the South East part of the Island, the only safe place to stay for a longer duration overnight. All other locations have a high risk for rock or icefall or large amounts of seals.

Norwegian Research Station Bouvetoya (aka Nyroysa), WAP NOR-Ø2 is not  accessible due to the Bouvet Regulation (that came into force in 2005), which restricts access to only allowed scientific research activity.

As such, and also due to safety issues, the camp will be setup at the rocks above the beach at Cape Fie.​ The area is roughly estimated to 50x240m (150 ft x 800ft).

Kapp Fie , 54° 27′ South,  3° 28′ East, South East side of Bouvetøya (Bouvet Island), will (provisionally) enter into “Section 2, Sub & Peri-Antarctic Territories”  of WAP-WADA Directory as NOR-NEW. Later,  when the operation will start, a full Reference number will be given.