We just finished a two day meeting onboard the Oden Icebreaker, docked in Landskrona, in the very southwest part of Sweden! The meeting, hosted by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, brought together the Swedish and US scientific teams, representatives from the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs and Raytheon, and the Oden crew. The purpose of the meeting was to work out logistics, equipment issues, and strategic issues for this expedition to the seas of Antarctica, and to get to know one another! The Oden is one of eight icebreakers operated by the Swedish Maritime Administration. It is designed for escort ice breaking and Arctic research operations and has carried out 14 icebreaking expeditions in the Baltic, six expeditions to the Arctic, and one to Antarctica last year with PolarTREC teachers Ute Kaden and Allan Miller. The crew of 18 is led by Captain Mattias Petersson.
Oden Icebreaker, Landskrona Sweden
When we arrived at the port, the Oden was getting last minute maintenance work done before its October 12th departure. It was "parked” on concrete piers in a dry dock. We toured the great ship to get acquainted with the layout and went into the labs to see where the expedition work would be done. The highlight of the tour was going under the ship! We donned hard hats and climbed down and under the "belly” of the ship. What an incredible view- one I hope we never see again J
Look how small the people look
Laughing
Looks like the belly of a whale!
Back to the tour, there is one large shared lab with a clean room, and about eight container labs. Below is a picture of one of the container labs. Over the course of the two days, the scientific teams discussed many issues including where everyone would work (bench space), placement of labs, the need for special labs such as for cold storage, and placement of equipment. Each scientist has different needs based on their project (I will introduce the scientists and their projects at a later time).
This will be a very busy place in a few months!
The US and Swedish teams also had to agree on the routes and designated places for sampling and experiments to be conducted. It was interesting to watch the discussion that went into finally mapping out a plan that was agreeable to everyone. Calculations for each of the projects have to be considered- what science will be done and where; distance between sites; travel time; speed at which the ship will be able to travel; and the thickness of the ice. Each scientist projected what their respective project would take, then it was all put together to come up with totals of distance and time. It was a true example of collaborative work!
Making a game plan
There wasn’t any time for sightseeing, but several of us managed a walk one evening into town where we saw the Landskrona Citadel. This was a castle founded by Christian III of Denmark in 1560 to protect the natural harbor at a site that was originally a monastery. In the mid 1600’s, the castle was fortified with bastions and the space inside the moats was expanded, making it the strongest and most modern fort in Scandinavia. Today it’s a beautiful recreational area.
Landskrona Citadel
With a beautiful sunset, the day ended.
Reflections on a sunset
The next morning, minutes before we headed to the port gate to leave, a crew member came and told me that the water was "coming in”- they were flooding the dock!! (I had been waiting and hoping to see this since the day before ) What an incredible sight and sound as the water rushed in from the bay on the other side of the gate.
The Oden is almost ready for its October 20th departure to the southern seas – and I am ready to join it in its journey to Antarctica!!