The Antarctic Maritime Tracker: Research Stations

Antarctica is largely considered to be one of the last great terrestrial frontiers on earth, although it is not free of its own territorial disputes. To encourage peaceful use of the continent and its surrounding waters, the  Antarctic Treaty  was signed in 1959 by twelve countries that had already been engaged in some form of scientific research in the region. As a result of this treaty, Antarctica has become a bastion of scientific cooperation amongst the original signatories like the United States, as well as countries  such as China that became a Consultative Party  after signing the Treaty later on.

The Antarctic Treaty System allows for several activities to occur on the continent, including research on environmental protection and tourism. Article III of the Antarctic Treaty encourages information and research sharing among its parties and develops a cooperative working environment with relevant Specialized Agencies of the United Nations and other international organizations that have a scientific or technical interest in the region.

Most prominently, the discovery of the 'hole' in the Ozone layer in 1985 was made by researchers in Antarctica. However, research in Antarctica is not limited to climate research. Research conducted in the region has also been instrumental to breakthroughs in telecommunications, fisheries management, global navigation and transportation, and burgeoning space-related technologies.

Article IX.2 of the Antarctic Treaty states that participation in the decision-making of Antarctic affairs under the Treaty is allowable only to those countries that demonstrate consistent and substantial scientific research activity in the region. Both the US and China actively participate in scientific research in the region, operating in multiple research stations.

Using Antarctica for scientific research has the potential for converging interests between the U.S. and China, though it may manifest itself as competition if people-to-people exchanges continue to be stifled. While both states share a commitment to the norm of scientific cooperation enshrined in the Antarctic Treaty, no cooperation between American and Chinese scientists has occurred to date; in fact, the only interaction between their civilians in an official capacity on the continent was the  joint U.S.-Russian inspection  of China’s fifth research station currently under construction near McMurdo Station.

As one of its original signatories, the United States has a vested interest in preserving the Antarctic Treaty System. The National Science Foundation is mandated by the President to oversee and implement scientific research conducted by the United States Antarctic Program. According to  Presidential Decision Directive/NSC-26 , United States policy toward Antarctica has four fundamental objectives:

1. Protecting the relatively unspoiled environment of Antarctica and its associated ecosystems, 
2. Preserving and pursuing unique opportunities for scientific research to understand Antarctica and, global physical and environmental systems,
3. Maintaining Antarctica as an area of international cooperation reserved exclusively for peaceful purposes, and
4. Assuring the conservation and sustainable management of the living resources in the oceans surrounding Antarctica.

More recently, spending on scientific research in the Antarctic saw renewed interest towards the end of the Obama administration and during the Trump administration in part due to increased competition with China. For instance, there was a  2013 budget request  of $658 million to replace aging icebreaker ships and add one to the fleet, and a  2021 budget request  of $1.6 billion for polar nuclear-powered ice-breaker fleet before FY 2029.

The United States has jurisdiction over 3 active Antarctic research stations:

1.  Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station  (note: due to basemap limitations, features located on the South Pole and the immediate surrounding areas cannot be displayed. Amundsen-Scott is located at the South Pole and cannot be projected on the map)
2.  Palmer Station 
3.  McMurdo Station 

Although China signed the Antarctic Treaty much later than the United States, it has shown keen interest in the region as a Consultative Party member. The Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), overseen by the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, manages China's Antarctic research stations. To date, China's most recent policy directive on the region is a 2017 government white paper, titled,  China’s Antarctic Activities . In this white paper, China states its primary goal in the region as the following: China wishes to work with the international society and collectively push for the establishment of a fairer, more reasonable international Antarctic order; to work together and build Antarctica’s “community with a shared future for mankind”; and contribute further to the stable and sustainable development of the Antarctic and global peace. 

The major objectives for the region that China discusses in this paper are:

• The ability to fulfill the comprehensive needs of Antarctic scientific researches
• Continuous improvement of China’s Antarctic scientific and research capabilities
• Promotion and public science education about the Antarctic
• Effective preservation of the Antarctic environment and ecosystem
• Active participation in the global governance of the Antarctic
• Broad engagement in international cooperation and exchanges
• Sustainable exploitation of Antarctic resources

China has jurisdiction over 4 active Antarctic research stations and has begun construction on a fifth:

1.  Changcheng (Great Wall) Station 
2.  Kunlun Station 
3.  Taishan Station 
4.  Zhongshan Station 
5. Unnamed on Inexpressible Island (currently under construction)

In areas where sovereignty or sovereign rights are in dispute, we show the claims of each party based on the best publicly available information. ICAS emphasizes that these maps are not to be taken as an endorsement of any one party's respective claims over another's.