Russian icebreaker transports British expedition to Antarctica

VLADIVOSTOK, December 29 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian icebreaker the Amderma has delivered supplies and seven British crew members of the Halley Research Station to Antarctica, a spokesman for the Far East Shipping Company said on Saturday.

The Russian crew has started unloading equipment, food and fuel for the research expedition.

The vessel set off from Cape Town, in South Africa, and has traveled a total of 3,000 miles, with seven days spent in the ice-covered waters.

Russia's another icebreaker, the Vasiliy Golovnin, is currently heading from New Zealand to Argentina. It is scheduled to leave from Ushuaia for Antarctica in mid-January to transport fuel and personnel to Argentina's polar stations.

The Halley Research Station is part of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) which was first established almost 60 years ago. The Halley station is one of three research centers in the Antarctic and it mainly studies the Earth's atmosphere.