Royal Navy helps dig out world's most remote post office after heavy snowfall

Royal Navy sailors came to the assistance of 4 women who person taken up jobs astatine an isolated Antarctic technological basal - aft dense snowfall buried immoderate of the buildings.

Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett and Lucy Bruzzone beat a grounds fig of applicants to go the squad liable for managing historical tract Port Lockroy connected Goudier Island - location to the world's astir distant station office.

The team, who stock the land with a colony of gentoo penguins, had been mounting up the base, assisted by 3 different unit who are leaving shortly, up of the austral summer, erstwhile the atrocious upwind struck.

Some of the buildings were buried, portion the extortion of Bransfield Hut - location to the site's museum, acquisition store and station bureau - was damaged by the dense outpouring snowfall of betwixt 2 and 4 metres deep.

A squad of sailors and Royal Marines from Royal Navy vessel HMS Protector shifted respective tonnes of snowfall and carried retired impermanent repairs.

'At slightest the snowfall killed the smell'

Warrant Officer First Class Lee "Rattler" Morgan said it had been bully for the ship's institution to "step ashore and assistance out".

He added: "The sailors were each smiles and blessed to get cracking connected with specified a worthwhile task.

"I was taken aback by the sheer magnitude of snowfall and however the buildings had each but disappeared.

"When I near present astatine the opening of the year, the penguins were lying connected bare crushed of rocks and messiness - astatine slightest the snowfall got escaped of the smell."

Engineering Technician Marine Engineer Jack Pearce said: "This is lone my 2nd 'run ashore' successful the Navy, having travel retired of grooming conscionable 3 weeks ago.

"It's astonishing to beryllium here, I person enjoyed the scenery and wildlife, but besides it feels large making a quality by moving with the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust."

Counting penguins

The 4 women were among 6,000 radical who expressed an involvement successful moving the site, abandoning location comforts to unrecorded and enactment successful the portion without moving h2o oregon a flushing toilet.

The erstwhile whaling station, which has go a tourer attraction visited by astir 20,000 radical during the summertime season, is location to the world's astir distant station office, which handles astir 80,000 cards mailed each twelvemonth to much than 100 countries.

Another occupation the squad overseeing the presumption has, is counting the island's penguins.

HMS Protector is the Royal Navy's crystal patrol ship, which pays regular visits to planetary bases connected the frozen continent, delivering supplies, supporting technological probe and conducting her own.