The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) will make its first dedicated environmental management visit to Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) in Antarctica in more than two decades.
The AAD will conduct the visit using the research icebreaker Nuyina, which Serco has been operating on its behalf since 2021. The HIMI campaign will be delivered over two voyages, totalling 35 days on and around Heard Island.
HIMI is an Australian external territory comprising World Heritage-listed remote islands in the Southern Ocean. Serco said the HIMI region teems with globally significant ecology and geoheritage values, being one of the most intact sub-Antarctic ecosystems left on Earth.
To ensure the AAD can safely venture as far as needed and achieve as many campaign objectives as feasible during the voyages, Serco’s onshore support teams and the ship’s crew have worked collaboratively with the AAD to deliver vessel upgrades and logistical planning. These include safety measures and biosecurity planning to ensure biosecurity procedures can be effectively implemented.
The HIMI campaign is part of Nuyina’s 2025/26 season, also including stops at Casey – Australia’s busiest Antarctic research station – and Australia’s most southerly Antarctic research station, Davis.
These stops will cover a diverse range of resupply and research activities in addition to the ship-supported field campaign at HIMI, from personnel changeovers to cargo resupply and refuelling provisions.
