Non-AT country citizen visiting Antarctica by non-AT country registred vessel (yacht) — do I need a permit and why?

7/9/2016 9:59:56 AM

Official response from Amanda Lynnes, Communications & Operations Assistant of the IAATO — International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators:

Dear Maxim,

Thank you very much indeed for contacting IAATO. No need to apologise
for your English – it is very good!

Because Moldova is not an Antarctic Treaty Party, you are a citizen of
Moldova and your yacht is flagged to the country too, it is possible
for you to travel to Antarctica unauthorised (without a permit). This
is not recommended by the wider Antarctic community and the process
for obtaining a permit is a good way to prepare for your voyage. What
port were you intending to stop at before departing for Antarctica and
when were you hoping to leave? It is possible that you can obtain a
permit from the last country you visit before you leave for the
continent, e.g., Chile, Argentina, New Zealand etc.

With best wishes, Amanda

Official response from José Luis Agraz, Information Officer of the ATS — Antarctic Treaty Secretariat:

Dear Maxim,

Thank you for contacting us.

As is raised in your message, if your country of nationality Moldova
does not require its citizens any kind of permission to travel to
Antarctica, you do not need to perform any additional management.

The Antarctic Treaty obligations are only applicable to nationals of
any of the 53 contracting and accessing Parties.

I wish you success in your trip to Antarctica.

José Luis Agraz

10/19/2015 7:52:51 AM

I am not sure I understand whether your grandfather is supposed to get a permit, on what basis and what the practical consequences could be but he can in any case get a permit from the country of departure/last port of call before reaching Antarctica. So being a Moldovan citizen on a Moldovan vessel does not prevent you from applying for a permit.

I reckon your grandfather would probably prefer to spare himself the trouble because that’s quite a lot of paperwork to do, especially in a foreign language, but if he needs a permit or decides to get one out of an abundance of caution, that’s always a possibility. Depending on his plans, he could thus apply for a permit from Australia, Chile or Argentina.

I will try to add more details and sources for all that later but as an example, consider this guidance from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office:

Any person on a British expedition to Antarctica […] will need to apply for a permit to the Polar Regions Department of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO).

A British expedition is one organised in the UK, or one where the last place of departure for Antarctica is the UK, a British overseas territory, or a Crown Dependency.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

Search Posts

Latest posts

Popular posts