In December 2022, the traveler Fyodor Konyukhov, with the support of the Russian Geographical Society and Nikolai Savelyev (Poseidon Expeditions), plans to deploy a one-person Antarctic station on the island of Smolensk (Livingston), which belongs to the South Shetland Islands archipelago.
The expedition will last for three months, during which Fedor Konyukhov will conduct scientific research according to the program of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The traveler will also monitor the vital signs of his body in order to study the possibility of long-term solitary work in the conditions of Antarctica.
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The expedition is designed to remind of the history of the discovery of the islands by the famous Russian travelers. In 1821 Th. Bellingshausen, who sailed along the coast of Antarctica on the sloop "Vostok" together with M. Lazarev on the “Mirny” sloop, was the first to describe the largest of the South Shetland Islands and put them on a map using Russian names honoring of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 – Borodino, Maly Yaroslavets, Smolensk, Berezina, Polotsk, F.V. Teil, Leipzig, Waterloo, and also in honor of Vice Admiral Shishkov, Admiral Mordvinov, Captain-Commander Mikhailov and Rear Admiral Rozhnov.
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“Last year I made a solo drift on an ice floe near the North Pole. Now my goal is Antarctica, where I plan to set up a new research station on the island of Smolensk and stay longer. In silence and solitude, I will continue to do research, paint pictures and keep diaries. After 200 years, we must remember and honor the participants of the first Russian Antarctic expedition of Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev to the waters of the Southern Ocean in order to confirm or refute the assumption of the existence of the sixth continent," the traveler shared his plans.
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Fedor Konyukhov is an honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society, awarded the Miklouho-Maclay Gold Medal of the Russian Geographical Society for his contribution to environmental protection. Many of his expeditions are connected with Antarctica.
In 1995–1996, Fedor Konyukhov made the first solo trip to the South Pole in the history of Russia, followed by an ascent to the highest point of Antarctica, the Vinson Massif. He set off from Hercules Bay on November 8, 1995, reached the South Pole on January 6, 1996, spending 64 days on the road.
In 2007, Fedor Konyukhov made the fifth solo non-stop voyage Antarctica Cup around Antarctica on the yacht “Trading Network ‘Alye Parusa’” (85 feet) along the route Albany (Australia) - Cape Horn - Cape of Good Hope - Cape Leeuwin - Albany. 102 days on the road.