Arrival and Departure of the AA.

AA tied up at Nella Rock - plaque remembering MV Nella Dan's sinking.

The afternoon of Tuesday 28th Feb saw the arrival of the Aurora Australis (AA) at Mawson. Arrival had been delayed 4 days by blizzard conditions at Mawson. It was with mixed feelings that I watched from the Met Office as the AA edged into the harbour and moored. Tying up process taking a couple of hours as the mooring crews secured each of the ropes to bollards. Moored near Nella rock, the ship points to the SE and is close in to the station to ride out any strong winds should there be a blizzard.

 The forecast weather conditions were good for the next 4 days resupply. and the AA was tied up by dusk, the ships presence in the harbour complete with lighting suddenly made the station seem more crowded. Passengers remained on board till the following morning when unloading commenced.

The new crew disembarked in the morning and were inducted to the station by Mark our station Leader. The new crew were accommodated in spare rooms of the living quarters. They also quickly became involved in resupply and handover activities with the outgoing crew.

The new crew is welcomed by Station Leader

During changeover skies were clear on a couple of nights and auroral activity made a spectacular display as it lit up the night sky.

The fuel lines are connected to station storage tanks.

Weather conditions enabled the connection of fuel lines on Friday and 604,000 litres Special Antarctic Blend (SAB) diesel was pumped to the on station storage tanks in under 24 hours. 

Unloading and back loading progressed well and on Saturday 4th March the mooring crew removed the ropes from the bollards and the IRB’s, floated them to the ship as they were drawn in. The AA then moved to Kista Strait to ensure it could make a quick getaway should the weather turn.

The official handover was conducted after 9:00pm when all work had ceased. The ceremony was conducted in the bar with Antarctic medals handed out to the outgoing crew and the keys of the station passed to the incoming crew.

The last of the back loading progressed through Sunday. All returning expeditioner bags were loaded at 11:00 am and those not needed ashore were moved to the ship at midday. At 15:00 pm the remainder of returning expeditioners were mustered with only time for a quick farewell and then ferried by Inflatable Rubber Boats (IRB’s) to the ship. On board the AA the finality of our year was sinking in. Meanwhile work needed to make the ship ready for departure

Rod and Lisa contemplate departure.

 

Dinner was served at 5:30 on the ship and we were advised that at 6:00pm the ship would be departing Mawson. Some low priority cargo - rubbish and a couple of quads were not loaded, resupply however was a success.

Mawson and the Masson ranges left behind.

A short window of opportunity allowed a last email or Internet access before the ship was beyond the reach of the wireless link from the station.

The evening was overcast, stratocumulus cloud with the occasional shaft of sunlight and snow shower escorting the AA into iceberg alley, north of Mawson as evening closed in.



Weather observations were commenced and the poor sailors amongst us retired to their bunks early.

The medical team was also swung into action attending to a patient in the ships hospital, under observation for a suspect appendix.

After 2 nights of around the clock nursing and monitoring the patient was discharged without further problems and the medical team was stood down.