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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 1991-92: VUWAE 36

3. Cargo

3. Cargo

The event cargo that originated in Wellington was transported efficiently to Scott Base. The ROV cargo which originated in the United States was however delayed in reaching Christchurch. This cargo was consigned from Illinois with the shippers guarantee that it would be on a ship due to arrive in Lyttleton on 1 November, six days before K042 scheduled departure to Antarctica. The cargo was incorrectly manifested in Los Angeles and then would not have arrived in Auckland until early December. The shipping company did not admit the problem until early November when the cargo did not arrive in New Zealand. The ROV cargo was unloaded off the ship and docked in Los Angeles on 5 November then airfreighted at the shippers expense and arrived in Christchurch on 10 November.

We appreciated the flexibility and efficiency shown by DSIR Antarctic personnel to finally get our equipment to Scott Base in a situation outside our control.

The return of the ROV equipment from Scott Base to Christchurch was also delayed until late January and it was disappointing that it was not given a higher priority at Scott Base when it was ready on 9 December. Because of this planning winter field work in Alaska in March where the ROV could next be deployed was cancelled.

In the future we would hope to plan on air freighting this equipment between USA and NZ which should avoid our major freight problem this year. A more formal system to return priority equipment such as the ROV to New Zealand would also assist future programmes and should be coordinated by the Operations Manager at Scott Base.

Table 1. Cargo to Scott Base.
Description Cube Weight Freight Type.
Origin Wellington
Green box; scientific equipment 1 .18m3 460 kg Air, cargo
Green box; scientific equipment 0.25 m3 = 70 kg Air, cargo
Alloy tubing (3 cm long) 0.015 m3 = 10 kg Air, cargo
S4 current meter 0.073 20 kg Air, accompanied
Laptop computer-printer (2 cases) 0.05 15 kg Air, accompanied
Chilly bin (ROV dredge) 0.1 40 kg Air, accompanied
Underwater camera (2 cases) 0.1 20 kg Air, accompanied
Origin USA page break
ROV equipment 1 crate 1.13 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment 2 crate 1.26 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment 3 crate 1.01 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment 4 crate 0.056 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment 5 crate 0.056 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment 6 crate 0.022 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment 7 grey suitcase 0.25 }830 kg Air, cargo
Table 2. Cargo from Scott Base.
Description Cube Weight Freight Type.
Destination Wellington
Green box; scientific equipment 1.18 m3 460 kg Air, cargo
Green box; scientific equipment 0.25 m3 = 70 kg Sea, cargo
1 pallet & box (LTS container equipment) 2.0 m3 = 450 kg Sea, cargo
S4 current meter 0.073 20 kg Air, accompanied
Laptop computer-printer (2 cases) 0.05 15 kg Air, accompanied
Chilly bin (ROV dredge) 0.1 40 kg Air, accompanied
Underwater camera (2 cases) 0.1 20 kg Air, accompanied
Destination USA
ROV equipment #1 crate 1.13 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment #2 crate 1.26 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment #3 crate 1.01 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment #4 crate 0.056 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment #5 crate 0.056 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment #6 crate 0.022 } Air, cargo
ROV equipment #7 grey suitcase 0.25 }830 kg Air, cargo