Uncrewed 7-metre Saildrone departs Hobart for Antarctic circumnavigation

A seven-metre uncrewed Saildrone Explorer SD-1092 has left Hobart for a 22,000km circumnavigation of Antarctica, expected to take seven to nine months. Powered by wind and solar and monitored by satellite, it will measure ocean and atmospheric carbon dioxide to clarify the Southern Ocean sink. Its route runs via New Zealand, Drake Passage and South Africa.