Brazil to inaugurate new Antarctica research base, but funding worries persist

Brazilian researchers in Antarctica have reason to celebrate, as the country is close to inaugurating a new state of the art scientific research base on King George Island. The project, costing just under USD 100 million and built by Chinese state-owned company CEIEC, is entering its final stages and is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

Nearly all of the physical structures have been built, and project commissioning tests are underway, with the new Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station expected to house researchers and Navy officers by the start of next summer.

The 4,500 square-meter facility was designed by Curitiba-based architecture firm Estúdio 41 and contains a total of 17 laboratories and lodging for 64 people. The project posed significant logistical challenges, as the base needs to withstand extremely low temperatures, frozen soil, potential seismic tremors, and hurricane-force winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour.

The new Antarctic Station has been built to replace the previous Comandante Ferraz base, which was destroyed in a fire in 2012. A blaze began around the site’s generators and caused extensive damage, killing two members of the Navy and resulting in BRL 24.6 million in damages. A Navy sergeant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter...