Within the strategic framework of an Argentine presence that extends for more than a century, long before the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irízar advances in the second stage of the 2025/26 Antarctic Summer Campaign .

Its mission, coordinated by the Joint Antarctic Command, transcends logistics to become an act of political reaffirmation on the white continent, where Argentina exercises inalienable sovereign rights, based on permanent occupation, historical heritage and the legal framework that integrates that territory into the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands.

After successfully completing the first phase of the campaign, where it ensured the resupply of the Orcadas, Petrel, Esperanza, Marambio, Carlini, Primavera and Brown bases, the Irízar set sail again from Buenos Aires on January 20.

Back on the white continent, its course is now set towards the challenging Weddell Sea , with the primary objective of reaching and resupplying by air the Belgrano II Joint Antarctic Base, the southernmost of the Argentine stations and the third southernmost permanent base on the planet. This operation is subject to a narrow weather window.

The context is not merely operational . The campaign unfolds while a British scientific vessel, flying the illegitimate flag of the so-called "Malvinas," is sailing in the region, an act that Argentina condemns for its colonial nature and for violating UN resolution 31/49, which calls on both parties not to introduce unilateral innovations.

This contrast underscores the legitimacy of Argentina's historical actions, based on peace, science, and international cooperation within the Antarctic Treaty System, in the face of British colonial claims that have persisted since the Malvinas.

The mission of the Irízar, which includes crew rotation, support for scientific research and waste management, consolidates Argentina's bicontinental status in a geopolitical landscape that is expected to be complex in the lead-up to 2048, the year in which the Antarctic Treaty could be reviewed.

Thus, Argentina, through its emblematic icebreaker, exercises its sovereign rights over Antarctica with concrete actions, reaffirming a permanent, legitimate and anti-colonial State policy.