U.S. Antarctic Program Grantee Alert
Icebreaker Status
National Science Foundation
For further information, please go to:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/ant/usap_pi_alert_icebreaker.pdf
On 28 July 2011, Dr. Karl Erb, Director of the National Science
Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, issued a "Dear Colleague Letter"
describing the current availability of icebreaker support during the
2011-2012 Antarctic field season. As many in the science community may
have heard, the Swedish government has decided that it is unable to
allow the use of the icebreaker Oden for joint research work in the
Southern Ocean or to open the channel through the ice that enables
resupply of McMurdo Station (and consequently, resupply of South Pole
Station and provisioning of field camps in the Antarctic interior). NSF,
along with other federal agencies and the White House, is working to
identify and engage a replacement icebreaker to meet the U.S. Antarctic
Program's needs. As new information becomes available, updates will be
published on the U.S. Antarctic Program website, at:
http://www.usap.gov.
The full text of Dr. Erb's letter to the community is available at:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/ant/usap_pi_alert_icebreaker.pdf.