Antractic

Indian Antarctic Program begun on December 6, 1981 with launching of the first Indian Expedition at Goa. Subsequently Indian expeditions have been going to Antarctica every year.

India was admitted to the Antarctic Treaty on the August 19, 1983 and obtained Consultative Status on the September 12, 1983. India was admitted as a member of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) on the October 1, 1984 and of Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in 1986. India ratified the Environment Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty in 1997.

The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa, was established in 1998 at Goa an autonomous R & D Institution of the Department of Ocean Development. NCAOR is designated as the nodal organization for the co-ordination and implementation of the Indian Antarctic Program, including the maintenance of India's permanent station in Antarctica.

The first and the second Indian Antarctic Expedition were in Antarctica for 10 and 57 days respectively. India built its first permanent station 'Dakshin Gangotri' in 1984 and 12 members of the 3rd Expedition stayed for over four months during winters returning on Jun 6, 1984.

Dakshin Gangotri was decommissioned in 1990 and was converted into a supply base. The second permanent station ‘Maitri’ was built during 1989. The third permanent station will be built in 2006.

A post office was setup at Dakshin Gangotri in 1983 during the 3rd Expedition and 2000 covers were reportedly postmarked.

The information in this listing is presented in following format:
Launch Date {at Goa till 18th expedition, and at Cape Town, South Africa from 19th to 25th expedition, and again from Goa from 26th expedition onwards}
Date of Landing at Antarctica
Date of Return to Cape Town (only for 19th to 25th expedition)
Date of return in India
Name of the Ship/s
Helicopter Service/s

1 1981 Dec 6 1982 Jan 9 1982 Feb 22 MV Polar Circle	2 1982 Dec 1 1982 Dec 28 1982 Mar 22 MV Polar Circle	3 1983 Dec 3 1983 Dec 27 1984 Mar 29 MV Finnpolaris	4 1984 Dec 4 1984 Dec 28 1985 ? MV Finnpolaris	5 1985 Nov 13 1985 ? 1986 ? MV Thuleland
6 1986 Nov 26 1986 ? 1987 ? MV Thuleland	7 1987 Nov 25 1987 ? 1988 ? MV Thuleland	8 1988 Nov 29 1988 ? 1989 ? MV Thuleland	9 1989 Nov 1989 Dec 27 1990 Mar 27 ?	10 1990 Nov 27 1990 Dec 20 1991 Mar 25 ?
11 1991 Nov 27 1991 Dec 23 1992 Mar 24 MV Thuleland	12 1992 Dec 5 1992 Dec 28 1993 ? MV Thuleland	13 1993 Dec 8 1994? 1994 MV Stepan-Krishninnikov	14 1994 Dec 17 1995? 1995 Mar MV Polarbird	15 1995 Dec 7 1996 Jan 1 1996 Mar 21 MV Brinknes
16 1996 Dec 12 1997 Jan 4 1997 Apr 5 MV Polarbird	17 1997 Dec 8 1998 Jan 3 1998 Apr 1 MV Polarbird Jayrow Helicopters	18 1998 Dec 14 1999 ? 1999 Mar 29 MV Polarbird Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd., New Delhi	19 1999 Dec 9 1999 ? 2000 Mar 3 2000 ? MV Magdalena Oldendorff Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd., New Delhi	20 2000 Dec 30 2001 Jan 9 2001 Mar 18 2001 ? MV Magdalena Oldendorff
21 2002 Jan 8 2002 ? 2002 Mar 25 2003? MV Magdalena Oldendorff Helicopters (NZ) Ltd, New Zealand	22 2003 Jan 10 2003 Jan 25 2003 Mar 28 2003 Apr ? MV Magdalena Oldendorff Helicopters (NZ) Ltd, New Zealand	23 2003 Dec 19 2003 Dec ? 2004 Mar 31 2004 Apr 4 MV Emerald Sea Helicopters (NZ) Ltd, New Zealand	24 2004 Dec 12 - 2005 Feb 23 2005 ? MV Emerald Sea Heli-Serv. Pty. Ltd., Australia	25 2005 Dec 12 2006 2006 2006 ? MV Paardeberg Helicopter Service - GmbH Wasserthal, Hamburg, Germany
26 2007 Jan 10 2007 2007 MV Emerald Sea Helicopters (NZ) Ltd, New Zealand	27 2007 Dec 6 2008 Jan 03 2008 Apr 11 MV Emerald Sea Helicopters (NZ) Ltd, New Zealand	28 2008 Oct 31 2009 Jan 2009 MV Emerald Sea Helicopters (NZ) Ltd, New Zealand	29 2009 Nov 6 2010 MV Vladimir Ignatjuk MV. Ivan Papanin A S Airlift, Norway L G International Corporation Korea	30 2010 Oct 14 MV Ivan Papanin
		First Expediton to South Pole 2010-11