All news

Russian sailor from Norwegian fishing trawler operated in the Antarctic and taken to Chile

ST. PETERSBURG, January 24, /ITAR-TASS/. A Russian sailor from the Norwegian SagaSea fishing trawler has been operated at the Russian Antarctic station Bellingshausen, Valery Lukin, the head of the Russian Antarctic expedition, told Itar-Tass.

According to him, the SagaSea was fishing outside the Antarctic coast when a Russian crewman, born 1970, seriously injured his leg by a fallen cargo. The vessel approached the Bellingshausen station and took the patient onboard.

Surgeon Denis Rudenko operated the victim. He was assisted by Bulgarian Doctor Klement Orhidski. She had stayed at Bellingshausen on her way to the Bulgarian Antarctic station.

The three-hour-long operation was successful. An S-130 Brazilian aircraft took the man to Punta-Arenas in Chile where a Russian consul placed him in hospital for further treatment.

All the five all-year Antarctic stations have an operation unit where two doctors and one surgeon work. The Bellingshausen station has only one doctor because they have neighbors - the Uruguayans, the Chileans, the Chinese and the Poles who come to each other’s rescue if necessary.

Bellingshausen Station is a Russian (formerly Soviet) Antarctic station at Collins Harbour. It was one of the first research stations founded by the Soviet Antarctic Expedition on February 22, 1968. The station is named for the 19th century Russian explorer Fabian von Bellingshaussen.