The ship of the icy desert

No roads, no cars, buses, trains, aircrafts- nothing. No traditional means of transport are available here for transporting men and material. The paradox is that often there is no destination either. But vehicles are nevertheless, needed for the above purposes. Since Antarctica is a vast continent covered by layers of ice many kilometres in thickness, normal means of transportation cannot be available here. No roads can be constructed on ice.

So the only means of transport here are tracked vehicles. The tracks, like those of a tank, offer a good grip on the slippery ice and hence prevent skidding of vehicle. They also distribute the weight of the vehicle over a much larger surface. So they are helpful in negotiating crevasses. Unless the crevasse is as big as the vehicle, it won't harm the vehicle. Moreover, if the crevasse is covered by snow and hence not visible to the naked eye, it won't give way under the weight of the vehicle because of the even distribution of weight. The tracked vehicles are also capable of negotiating treacherous landscape and steep inclines. It can smoothly pass over an uneven surface and into deep gorges.

The tracked vehicles used at Maitri are the Pisten Bulleys. These are available with variable power, ranging from 270 to 660 BHP. But since we don't have to negotiate mountains, 330 BHP is sufficient for us. These have sufficient power to pull a 20 tonne container on a trailer. Some Pisten Bulleys have a cabin attached to it, which is used for transporting people. The front seat can accommodate 2 people, including the driver. The cabins are centrally heated, the inside temperature reaching 30ºC. Trailers can be hitched to the rear of the Pisten Bulley for transporting containers. The Pisten Bulley also has a blade in front, something like that of a bull dozer. It is meant for clearing snow for small stretches. It can also be used to push a vehicle that is trapped in snow from behind. Some Pisten Bulleys have a bucket instead of a blade. It is used to carry luggage, as a bonnet of a car. The Pisten Bulley can also be modified to be used as a snow clearance vehicle, like that used to clear the roads after heavy snowfall in the Himalayas. But vehicles are not needed here.

The maximum speed of the Pisten Bulley is around 25- 30kmph. But we rarely drive at that speed to avoid damage to the tracks. This is because most of the landscape here is hard ice and not soft snow. It is also very uncomfortable to drive on. Because of the extremely low temperatures here, the vehicles run on Aircraft Turbine Fuel. Any other fuel would freeze.

The main purpose of the Pisten Bulley is to run convoys to the ice shelf for fetching our supplies for the year.

The trailers used here are also tracked. Earlier they used to be on sledges. But since a sledge needs more power to pull them, they were abandoned. The Banjara is still on a sledge because of its dimensions.

The Russian Station, Novolazarevskaya, near here, uses the modified T-72 tanks for the purpose of transportation. They continue to use sledges instead of trailers.