INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A Russian polar research vessel docked in South Africa's Cape Town harbor at the weekend as climate protesters raised fears it could be
used to help Moscow explore for minerals in protected Antarctica.The Akademik Aleksandr Karpinskiy icebreaker is on its way to the Antarctic
as part of a scientific expedition launched late last year, according to Russian media.The ship is owned by the Polar Marine Geosurvey
Expedition, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned mineral exploration company RosGeo."We believe that exploitation will be happening
next," said Extinction Rebellion spokeswoman Jacqui Tooke.A small group of environmentalists waving placards gathered at the harbour in Cape
Town on Sunday chanting "No more fossil fuels, hands off Antarctica! No more war!""We saw the ship come into port at 8:41 on Saturday
morning," Extinction Rebellion climate campaigner Cassi Goodman said on Sunday.Mineral exploitation is banned in Antarctica, and RosGeo has
denied allegations that the firm is engaged in the exploration of the icy continent's mineral resources.RosGeo's activities "both on the
continent of Antarctica and in the adjacent seas are exclusively scientific in nature," its spokesman told the Russian newspaper Kommersant
on Saturday.The 68th Russian Antarctic scientific expedition set out to study global climate change and oceanology in the marginal seas of
Antarctica among other glaciological research in and around the Antarctic.The ship arrived days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Ukraine.South Africa has resisted taking sides over the war, which has triggered sweeping Western sanctions against Moscow and attempts to
isolate it diplomatically.This is the second Russian ship to moor in South Africa in as many months.In December, South Africa was criticized
Africa has a moral duty on behalf of its own citizens, Africa and the whole world to not enable this kind of activity in an area that is
November 2022.The 1991 Madrid Protocol bans all mineral extraction in Antarctica and includes measures for the protection of its flora and
fauna, the prevention of marine pollution, tourism control and waste management.
