Cape Prud’Homme  WAP MNB-NEW

Cape Prud’Homme located at 66°41’28” South, 139°53’44”East   is an Italian-French camp, opened in 1994, managed by the (French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) and the Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide (PNRA). It is located on the coast of the Antarctic Ice sheet, in Adélie Land, about 5 km from Petrel Island, where the French Dumont d’Urville Station is. All the supplies and equipment for the Italian-French Concordia Station (aka Dome C, WAP MNB-Ø3) are transported by a combined convoy of up to 7 Caterpillar tractors from Cap Prud’Homme , with Kassbohrer trailblazers and a team of up to 9 people; each convoy transports an average of 150 tons of payload..

There is no ice free area around the station as well as there is no protected area in the immediate vicinity. The station is built on a rock near the coast but its surroundings are entirely covered by ice or snow. No signs of fauna or flora.

The joint French-Italian station Cape Prud’homme (WAP MNB-NEW) forms an integral part of the Concordia project. It offers a gateway to Concordia for the transport of heavy tools and equipment, following delivery by the resupply vessel L’Astrolabe to Dumont d’Urville Station (WAP FRA-Ø1). In this context, and because Dumont d’Urville station is not on the continent itself, Cape Prud’homme was established for the development and maintenance of the traverse equipment (tractors, trailers, accommodation caravans), its winter storage, and preparation of transport convoys. The site was selected because it was used from 1955 as Antarctica Gateway for French expeditions.

The station is open in summer only. The staff is mainly composed of technicians working on the maintenance of the traverse equipment, as well as drivers in charge of the 3 convoys per year.