When is the cruise?

That is a question I keep pondering, as do my family and work colleagues. The dates, unfortunately, are less than solid.  No one knows for sure.  

Alberto today told me why the dates are uncertain.  Namely, the JC Ross is a vessel for scientific investigations, such as the DynOPO cruise. Also, it is a vessel for logistical support.  Well, it turns out that a major logistical support issue arose this season due to a massive crack opening in the ice sheet a few kilometres from the Halley VI Research Station, located on the Brunt ice shelf in the Weddell Sea.  Halley was planning to move already.  But this crack has made that move more urgent, as indicated by this news article from 16Jan2017. If you go to the link for Halley VI, you will see that this research station is spectacular, with heaps of gear and living pods. Correspondingly, the move requires significant logistical support, with the JC Ross playing a role. 

Given the priority for the JC Ross to support the Halley move, and the uncertainty in completion of the move, Alberto suggests that we will not know for sure of dates for our cruise until around two weeks prior to its departure date.  Thus is life as a seagoing oceanographer: adventure of an uncertain kind and uncertain time!   Nonetheless, there are tentative dates, which are as follows: departure from Punta Arenas, Chile on 17March and disembark in Montevideo, Uruguay on 08May. 

One added note: this crack in the Brunt ice shelf is distinct from another crack that is creating lots of attention. Namely, the Larsen C shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula has a growing crack.  Larsen C is the sibling of Larsen B, with Larsen B having disintegrated in 2002.