A rendezvous in the middle of nowhere
17 April, 2025 Long reads
Antarctica, January 2025. Three expert teams are making their way across the stark frozen landscape, by sea, land and air – and they are planning to meet. Jamie Oliver shares an eye-witness account of this major logistics operation, undertaken by British Antarctic Survey in one of the world’s harshest environments.
The English Coast of Antarctica lies 600km from the nearest research station – a remote frontier, where the ice cliffs of the Stange Ice Shelf mark the edge of a giant floating, frozen wilderness. It is here that the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) recently attempted a logistics operation on a grand scale: a rare and ambitious rendezvous of sea, land and air operations, literally in the middle of nowhere.
It was last tried in 2022. It failed.
The mission was to recover scientific equipment from previous projects and establish depots for future field operations, making it possible for scientists to venture deep into Antarctica. Scientific fieldwork in this fast-changing region helps us understand more about Earth’s changing climate and rising sea levels.
The plan required success from three teams: a ground crew driving a convoy of vehicles – a tractor traverse – hauling equipment across the icy landscape; Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough (SDA) cutting through sea ice to find a suitable location to moor the ship at the shelf edge; and ski-equipped BAS Twin Otter aircraft supporting the whole operation. Each faced their own battle against the elements, with success depending both on expertise and good fortune in one of Earth’s most unforgiving environments.
So, after years of planning, a team of 50 set out for a fresh attempt. The SDA departed from the Falkland Islands on 20 December 2024, heading south across the notoriously rough Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula and beyond.
We spent Christmas Eve passing through the spectacular Lemaire Channel, followed by Christmas Day in a large Southern Ocean swell 50 miles off the coast of Adelaide Island. On New Year’s Eve, the whole ship’s company gathered for a celebration on the bridge, in sight of the imposing ice cliffs of the English Coast. As the youngest and oldest on board rang in the new year on the ship’s bell, RRS Sir David Attenborough was the most southerly ship on the planet.
The first job was to find a section of ice cliff for the ship to come alongside – allowing cargo and fuel to be unloaded onto the ice for deployment into the field. Finding the right spot involved making sure that the cliffs weren’t too high, there weren’t too many icebergs around, and ice conditions were favourable. The location also had to be safely accessible for the tractor traverse team, who were driving across Antarctica to meet the ship.
Our first choice was Case Corner. Sheltered by Smyley Island, it is known to have good shelf height and a good chance of accessibility for the tractor traverse. At 72° south, we began the process of icebreaking to clear a path through the frozen ocean. The ice-strengthened hull allowed the ship to make steady progress through the sea ice, but as conditions worsened, we were still 11km from the ice shelf. It was the final 3km of fast ice – ice that is attached to the shelf that can thicken over multiple years – that denied the ship access to Case Corner three years previously, resulting in the entire operation being abandoned. It was time for Plan B.
On the other side of Smyley Island are a number of ‘creeks’. These narrow areas of accessible water are created as the ice shelf advances in a series of distinct fingers, approximately 1km wide. Each offered potential access to the shelf, either by mooring up against the ice cliffs on either side, or by unloading onto the sea ice at the end of the creek, where natural ramps onto the ice shelf can form. BAS field guides had recently surveyed the area and identified it as potentially viable.
The SDA entered the first creek on 1 January 2025. Grey, overcast conditions, sea ice and icebergs created an other-worldly environment, eerily quiet as the 15,000 tonne vessel crept forward, the ice cliffs narrowing on either side as the end of the creek approached.
However, the overhanging ice walls and unfavourable ramp meant a quick rejection for Creek 1A (known thereafter as Collapsey Creek). Creek 2A was explored and discarded – the height of the ice cliffs and lack of a viable ramp proving too risky.
Creeks 3A and 3B were more open, with 3A identified as the more favourable. Captain Will Whatley used the ship’s thrusters to hold firm against the sea ice that filled the creek whilst two options were explored: use the sea ice to access the ramp at the top of the creek, or attempt to tie up alongside the ice cliff and offload directly onto the ice shelf.
Two field guides were deployed to test the sea ice, craned over the side on the transport basket (known at BAS as the Wor Geordie). After probing the ice for cracks, they measured the ice thickness with a hand drill. At 1m thick, there was potential to offload cargo onto the ice, as long as it thickened up towards the ramp.
But more measurements found this was not the case, and unusually the ice was thinner closer to the shelf, as little as 20cm thick in places. With no chance of it safely supporting the weight of vehicles and cargo, attention was turned to the ice cliffs. A section close to the ramp was low enough to investigate and a plan was devised to attempt to secure the ship alongside.
Several hours of crunching cleared the creek of sea ice, allowing us access to the cliff. The crew used the ship’s crane innovatively as a sort of ‘cheese wire’ to clean off the overhanging snow cornice, and on 2 January the ship inched into position. The ice cliff was 15m high, level with Deck 6 (the ship’s helideck) and at the limit for crane operations. The field guides were deployed to assess the top of the ice shelf.
As the first of the ship’s company to set foot on the shelf, their job was to check for crevasses – hidden cracks in the ice – via hand-held probes and a ground-penetrating radar attached to a snowmobile. As the hours passed the safe zone gradually expanded, becoming a flagged area 120m long and 100m wide.
It was a viable location for cargo operations and the decision was made to commit to staying. Creek 3A was renamed Gromit’s Creek and would be the ship’s home for the next three weeks.
After 24 hours of further preparations, four mooring teams were deployed to secure the ship to the ice shelf. Each dug a T-shaped pit, 200m from the ship, in which a wooden ice anchor was buried. Mooring lines were tightened and tested and with the ship secure against the ice, cargo operations could begin.
Attention turned to the progress of the tractor traverse, still hundreds of kilometres away and facing difficult conditions up on the ice sheet. It was essential that the traverse made it to the ship in time to offload scientific equipment and supplies, collected from previous deep field sites used over the last five years. Once offloaded, the traverse had to load up again with fuel and materials and head back to the newly-established Harry depot, 150km away.
After nearly eight weeks already on the continent the traverse drivers were weary, picking their way carefully across the icy landscape, completely isolated as a team of eight, dragging tonnes of cargo through blizzards and fog for over 1,400km. It is not a job for the faint-hearted – they are hardy individuals.
At the ship, two PistenBully tractors were craned onto the ice shelf. These workhorses are used to drag cargo and prepare the snow surface for transport and logistics. A cargo loading area was created, also a fuelling zone and roadway. A depot was established 1km from the ship for the traverse cargo.
Finally, a skiway was marked out for ski-equipped BAS Twin Otter aircraft to land and take off. Based at Sky Blu Field Station, 400km away high on the ice sheet, the Twin Otters would provide essential support for the whole operation. Everything was in place, but it all depended on the tractor traverse completing their final push to the ship before time ran out.
To ease the tension and celebrate what had been achieved so far, a barbecue was organised on the ice shelf for everyone onboard.
It was not lost on those present what an extraordinary situation it was; enjoying dinner on an Antarctic ice shelf, in a spot likely untrodden by anyone else in history, hundreds of miles from the nearest people, in 24-hour daylight next to a big red ship tied to billions of tonnes of floating ice. There was even a large group of gatecrashing Adélie penguins.
On Saturday 11 January, with ‘What’s that coming over the hill…’ playing on the ship’s tannoy, the tractor traverse team were spotted heading over the ice shelf towards the ship for the final few kilometres of an epic journey. With their cargo parked in the depot and five PistenBullys lined up next to the ship alongside the other two, weary drivers and field guides were welcomed on board. Freshly-cooked food, showers, ice cream, cold beers and proper beds were rewards for weeks of hard work and resilience.
However, they had just 48 hours to recover before heading out again across the icy wastes – hardy individuals indeed.
Weather conditions at the English Coast were extremely favourable, with mostly clear skies and low winds. It was, however, impossible not to recognise how unusually warm it felt.
For this remote part of Antarctica, temperatures were expected to be between -10 and -15°C. They barely registered below freezing, often sitting at -1°C for long periods. The intense UV from the sunny conditions meant working outside felt genuinely hot. It wasn’t the cold stable conditions expected and the environment was becoming increasingly dynamic. Antarctica is an inherently dangerous and unforgiving place and just when things seem to be going well, it can catch you out.
With the traverse team resting, cargo operations were in full swing. Equipment was transferred from the depot to the ship and loaded into the hold. Empty fuel bladders were strapped to 30m polysleds and filled ready for transport. Four Twin Otter aircraft were flying rotations to Sky Blu to move fuel drums and essential equipment. Everyone was working flat out, the range of skills and collaborative effort was extraordinary. The entire ship’s crew, pilots, field guides, scientists, drivers and other BAS staff onboard all worked together as efficiently as possible. With the ship scheduled to leave in a week it was a race against time.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Then on 13 January a section of the ice cliff collapsed onto the aft deck of the ship.
Despite being only 10m across, the falling ice pushed the rear of the ship away from the ice cliff with enough force to splinter the aft mooring anchor and pull out the others. Operations stopped whilst the situation was assessed and next steps decided. Just a few hours later everything was back on track, with the ship now using its thrusters to hold it against the ice edge, its mooring lines retrieved, the deck cleared and the fuel hose redeployed.
It was a reminder that the environment is a constant threat, the ship a tiny dot in a vast white landscape in the Southern Ocean and what was being attempted was a significant challenge, ambitious even for the expertise and experience of seasoned BAS professionals.
As conditions in the area deteriorated in the warm conditions, cameras were deployed underwater to examine the foot of the ice cliff. Drones were used to monitor crevassing in neighbouring promontories and to track icebergs. The Ronne Entrance, at the bottom of King George VI Sound, provides a conveyor belt of enormous bergs that float past the creeks, some many kilometres long and weighing millions of tonnes. If just one of these changes direction with the wind or tide it can seal off the creeks, preventing the ship from leaving. Constant checks enable a decision to be made to abandon the location before that happens but would mean the end of the operation.
The traverse team completed a successful rotation to Harry depot in two days, depositing fuel and supplies before returning to the ship for one final run.
With the end in sight and the remaining fuelling and loading about to get underway, an 80m section of the ice cliff collapsed directly next to the ship. Thousands of tonnes of ice pushed the ship 20m sideways in a second. Despite such a dramatic event, damage was minimal and no-one was in danger. Checks were made on the port lifeboat and fast rescue boat, the fuel hose and onboard fuelling system. Drones confirmed there was no damage to the visible part of the hull.
With everything deemed safe, the decision was made to finish the job. It was careful planning and operational expertise that prevented a more serious situation. The challenges faced during the operation at the English Coast will help decision-making in the future, when the time comes to return to this area and try to repeat the successes of 2025.
With the final traverse load heading for Harry depot, and the last Twin Otter safely back at Sky Blu, the SDA left Gromit’s Creek on 20 January for Rothera Research Station. We returned to the station wharf 24 days after leaving for the English Coast.
Antarctica is an incredibly difficult place to do anything and the whole operation was a great example of BAS at its best. The expertise and professionalism needed to achieve success was exemplary, offering a unique capability for a national operator – a coordinated effort from land, sea and air in support of Antarctic science.