Absolute world record for the Italian icebreaker research vessel Laura Bassi, which during the oceanographic campaign of the 38th Italian Expedition of the National Research Program in Antarctica (PNRA) reached the southernmost point ever reached by a ship .The researchers and technicians on board have reached, within the Bay of Whales, a previously unexplored site located at a latitude of 78 ° 44.280 'S, the southernmost point ever reached in the Ross Sea in Antarctica, in order to conduct important sampling foreseen within the project "Bioclever" (Biophysical coupling structuring the larval and juvenile fish community of the Ross Sea continental shelf: a multidisciplinary approach) coordinated by the Institute of Polar Sciences (Cnr-Isp) of the National Research Council, thanks also to the collaboration of the MORSea marine observatory ( Parthenope University). The voyage of the Laura Bassi started on November 17, 2012, when it left Trieste to reach the port of Ravenna. From there, after loading people and supplies, a 40-day voyage to New Zealand began. On January 5th, it departed from Lyttelton Port towards Mario Zucchelli Station and the Ross Sea. The ship is, in fact, currently engaged in the 38th campaign in Antarctica funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) as part of the National Research Program in Antarctica - PNRA, managed by the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development - ENEA for logistics planning and the National Research Council - CNR for scientific programming.
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