Dunedin will host an Italian-registered ship and eight crew members over winter, as the ship takes a break from cutting through the Antarctic sea ice.
The 130m cargo ship, which has been modified for ice, will spend the winter in Dunedin, taking a break from its work providing support for the Italian Antarctic base by the Ross Sea.
The 1980-built 5825 gross tonnage vessel arrived in Dunedin earlier this month and is berthed at the Birch St wharf.
It has been visiting the Antarctic since 1990, and can take 92 passengers.
Its role includes taking scientists from the base, providing the base with goods and equipment from general cargo to vehicles, and helping with research undertaken at sea.
Italica captain Giuseppe Mancini, who has been sailing in Antarctic waters for 25 years, called his ship "the old lady of the Antarctic''.
"She's an old lady, but in good condition.
"For old men, it's OK.''
He said there were "many difficult conditions'' to deal with in the Antarctic.
That was particularly so in the last 10 years, now there was a lot less sea ice in the Ross Sea.
In the past, that ice had offered protection from bad weather, but that was no longer the case.
"Working in those conditions is not good - sometimes it's very, very bad.''
The ship has both a helicopter deck - it can transport up to three helicopters in its hold - and a research vessel on its deck which is used by marine biologists, and could transport up to 800,000 litres of fuel to the base.
Once at the base, there was no wharf, so goods had to be taken ashore on a barge.
Instead of the ship returning to Italy, it had been decided it would lay over in Dunedin this winter.
Shipping agent Bruce King said the vessel usually operated out of Lyttelton, but earthquake damage at the wharf and other issues meant it had come to Dunedin instead.
That was helped by Port Otago, an organisation Mr King said had been "very good to us''.
Dunedin was a good berth for the ship, as there was no other wharf where the crew could leave the ship and walk a short distance to the centre of a city, without the need for vehicles.
Mr King said the vessel normally had 29 crew.
Eight would remain over winter.
While in Dunedin, the crew would perform general maintenance to keep the ship in a ready state.
Later in the year, it would sail to Auckland for dry dock maintenance, and was required to be in Lyttelton and ready to return to work on December 10.
