A challenge: This Thursday, December 14, it will set sail from Buenaventura to complete the X Expedition.
The Frigate Captain, Jahir Andrés Robledo Leal, is the commander of the first marine scientific research vessel built in Colombia, the ARC “Simón Bolívar”, which this Thursday will set sail from Buenaventura to carry out the 10th Colombian Expedition to Antarctica 2023. 2024.
In his more than 25 years of service in the Colombian Navy, Robledo has served four times as commander on different oceanographic vessels, among them, his time on the ARC “Providencia” stands out, from which he sailed in the development of different investigations in the Colombian Caribbean and Pacific.
Captain Robledo’s name is added to the list of the nine predecessors who have already completed these missions to the white continent, a privilege that he recognizes took him by surprise.
This is the ARC “Simón Bolívar”
The construction of the ARC ship “Simón Bolívar” is due to a strategic planning that the General Maritime Directorate and the National Navy have been targeting for several years, with the objective of renewing the country’s fleet of oceanographic vessels, since some of These units had already reached their useful life.
The ARC “Simón Bolívar” is the most complete vessel in all scenarios, since it has a marine geological research capacity that allows it to carry out all types of oceanographic and hydrographic studies. But, without a doubt, what stands out is the ability to carry out research on Antarctic soil.
“This unit has a polar hull that allows us to have safety during navigation in extreme climates. In addition, it has cutting-edge technology and a silent hull, which allows all the data collected to be useful. It is the continuous improvement of all our previous ships and for that reason, it fills us with pride because it is the largest built by the hands of Colombian men and women in the Cotecmar shipyards,” said Robledo.
With a length of 83 meters, a beam of 16 meters and a displacement of 3,250 tons, this vessel has a bridge with 360-degree vision, as well as a hull design ICE clase 1Cwhich allows operations in extreme climates, is equipped with a flight platform adapted for both day and night operations, as well as a hangar for helicopters.
It has a platform for scientific work and has a frame (type A) in the stern. Its design allows for polar navigation and exploration, thanks to its ice belt (two-meter reinforced sheet in the flotation zone) and its dynamic positioning system, which guarantees stability and position. In addition, it has load lifting equipment such as 10-tonne A-shaped gantry cranes, oceanographic equipment that can be submerged up to 7,000 meters, equipment to measure water columns and with which it can be censused up to 9,000 meters deep, a multi-beam echo sounder high resolution for deep waters, with a range of up to 11,000 meters deep and a swath width of up to 140°.
Equipped with modern laboratories for the analysis, classification and conservation of different samples, among other important technical and methodological characteristics, the ARC “Simón Bolívar” firmly begins its history at sea, by writing the pages of the log of a transcendental event in the history of the country’s maritime and scientific development, as ambassador of the 10th Colombian Expedition to Antarctica 2023-2024.