Odyssey of AION · Departure August 2026
Extreme navigation around Antarctica.
Unprecedented sailing circumnavigation of Antarctica, within the Screaming Sixties.
The frame
Roaring Forties to Screaming Sixties:
from Cape Horn to Antarctica
ARION will leave Marseille in the summer of 2026, course set for the Canaries, transatlantic, then south along the Argentine coast. The Drake Passage isn't forced, it's accepted: a low passing through, a trough running ahead, and the bow engages the last step toward the South Shetland Islands, where the circumnavigation's starting line opens off ~63°S. Between the two, the sea shifts character three times. In the Roaring Forties, the westerlies set in for good, the swell lengthens, the shipboard routine settles. In the Furious Fifties, the lows pack tighter, cross seas, the first sleet squalls, barometer checked hourly. In the Screaming Sixties, nothing eases anymore: no land between the 60th parallel and the continent, across 360° of longitude, the cold takes hold, spray freezes on the topsides, the damp never dries. No relay, no port, no recovery window. The sea decides.
Route
The Antarctic loop, maintained below 60°S.
The Furious Fifties are already a zone most sailors will never know. Wind that won't drop, cross seas, lows piling up without pause, barometer checked hourly, sleeping in your gear. That's the antechamber. In the Screaming Sixties, it's no longer the same world. The birds don't come down anymore. Ice takes hold in the shrouds, climbs the lines, whitens the mast. The cold seeps in, the damp never dries. No inhabited coast across 360° of longitude. No rescue possible. Twenty thousand miles to hold from end to end, below the 60th parallel. ARION takes this on with two sailors, under the French flag.
See the full route
Crew
She holds the protocol. He holds the course.
On board, all stations rotate: watches, nav, weather, manoeuvres, upkeep. Medicine on one side, marine biology on the other, come on top.
Shore support
Shore support.
Preparation, sea trials, logistics, relays: a shore structure organizes what must be ready before departure, and maintains a support line when communications allow.
Below 60°S,
the sea alone bears witness.
Onboard science
A territory with no human owner.
Cetaceans, bioacoustics, oceanography. Continuous, time-stamped, geolocated and contextualized series. Data open to partner laboratories and institutions.
AION Data HubLogbook
From the deck.
Preparation, techniques, navigation. Behind the scenes of the expedition, live.
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