Johan Berte goes on-site for logistic equipement

Building a station in Antarctica requires solid logistics and equipment trusty enough to be able to work in such a harsh environment. In order to inspect the equipment before delivery (snow tractors and heavy transport sledges), Johan Berte visited several factories lately.

Owren AS is the Norwegian based supplier selected for the snow tractors. The machines bought for the Belgian station are considered second generation since the latest upgrades resulting from 3 years of intensive use by the Antarctic Norwegian program have been incorporated.

Lehmann Maschinenbau GmbH is the German supplier for the transport sledges to be used in combination with the snow tractors. This company has many years experience in the field, their products have a good track record and incorporate developments resulting from their use by many Antarctic Programmes.

For the BELARE expeditions the Swedish company Hammar Maskin AB developed a purpose-build SLT (Side Loading Trailer). This hydraulic platform is compatible with the big sledges used to transport containers on ice. With this relatively "light" system it is possible to load containers from the ground on a sledge or to move them from one sledge to another without needing a heavy crane. Heavy vehicles with a high ground pressure are certainly not the best solution in Antarctica.