The new Brazilian scientific base in Antarctica officially opened on Wednesday night, eight years after the fire that destroyed it and left two military dead and three years after the reconstruction work began.
The ceremony, which took place a day after the scheduled date because the planes with the authorities could not land due to lack of visibility, was attended by 70 guests, including Vice President Hamilton Mourão and ministers Marcos Pontes (Ministry of Science), Technology, Innovations, and Communications) and Fernando Azevedo e Silva (Defense).
To reach the base, Mourão, the ministers and other guests departed from Punta Arenas, Chile, on a FAB plane and landed at the Chilean Antarctic base airport, the closest to the Brazilian base.
A helicopter with Mourão and the ministers took off around 3 pm towards the station but had to return shortly afterward. They followed the ship's trip under the falling snow.
From the ship, the guests were transported by helicopter to the ceremony site. The assembled structure had more than 15 tons of material, brought by two Navy ships and one FAB plane.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon