We do our shopping only once a year
It’s already May, half of our time here in Antarctica is already over and time is flying by.
Right now, most of us are busy taking stock – meaning that absolutely everything here at Neumayer Station III is in the process of being counted. The technical team is noting down every single screw, while our chef is tallying up all the food at hand. And I’m in the process of counting the medication and consumables, such as compresses and adhesive bandages. While it may not sound that exciting at first, this is an incredibly important task. After all, we only take in deliveries once a year and everything we need for the next year really has to be included. In other words, we only go shopping once a year. And we can’t just quickly nip out to the supermarket if we realise at home that we’ve forgotten something. So that’s why we’re already writing the shopping list. Our order lists are sent to Bremerhaven by August, September at the very latest, where they are checked again by the relevant departments and then all the materials are procured. These will then be loaded onto the Polarstern, which will make its way to us.
This year, the Polarstern arrived on 12 January, ushering in some of the most work-intensive days we had ever experienced. Purchases covering the entire year of 2025 arrived all at once and had to be cleared away within the next two days. Chains of people were formed, sorting all the materials from the containers into the warehouses as quickly as possible. Medical equipment in need of servicing was replaced with freshly serviced equipment from the Polarstern hospital. And there were also private items to handle. We were finally able to take delivery of 2 Zarges boxes each, i.e. boxes measuring 80 x 60 x 60 cm, which we overwintering people were allowed to pack in addition to our 23 kg of flight luggage. We had already had to hand in the boxes at the harbour warehouse in Bremerhaven in September 2024, and we were pleased to have a few more private items at our disposal.
And the journey continued as soon as everything last thing had been stowed away. The return cargo had to be packed and readied, because two weeks later a container ship arrived, which was loaded with the cargo that was to return to Bremerhaven. And why another container ship now and not just load everything on the Polarstern? Well, the Polarstern was here in Antarctica for additional research and scientific investigations, and the Weddell Sea was the next destination, meaning that it made no sense for the ship to continue on with our entire return cargo.
But now I have to get back to counting. Adhesive bandages, 7 x 5 cm, 62 pieces …
