Exactly 50 years ago, on January 20, 1976, with the raising flag ceremony Renato Cèpparo, I2VZP, did inaugurate the first Italian Base on the Antarctic Peninsula. Interestingly, the motor vessel Cristoforo Colombo set sail from the port of Tieste with 22 tons of prefabricated material to build the base.
The Station was set in a location of natural and strategic importance, the warmest and most easily accessible in Antarctica. At that time, a first Italian Hamradio Station operating in Antarctica from “Giacomo Bove Camp” (WAP ITA-Ø2), was on the air for a while with the call sign I1SR.
After just eight months, the Giacomo Bove Base, was dismantled by the Argentine Navy!
Tuesday, January 20, 2026, a ceremony marking the 5Øth Anniversary of the inauguration of the Base named after the 19th-century hydrographer, sailor Giacomo Bove, was held in Triste (Italy).
On 20 January 2026, an Historical Reenactment took place at the same pier to send a signal of friendship, peace, and scientific cooperation with raising of Argentine and Italian flags in Trieste in front of the Maritime Station.
Despite the freezing wind and poor propagation, a group of students of the Carducci-Dante High School, led by Prof. PhD Julius Fabbri (IV3CCT) did operate II3IUSR, a special call to celebrate the event, to honor the Italians who initiated Italy into the Antarctic Treaty and to strengthened friendship with Argentina, with the aim of proposing a joint nomination as a “Historic Site” for the remains of the Giacomo Bove Base; a message for peace and international scientific cooperation.
Thanks have been expressed by Julius Fabbri IV3CCTto the precious and kind participants in the mini-ceremony held in Trieste.
