Once it was time to leave port, every berthed vessel promptly weighed anchor and steered out to sea, all of them bound for the South Pole.

Even if every vessel was bound for Antarctica, they were all taking different routes.

Most research vessels traversed the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands, and very few ships went to the Antarctic continent, where the climate was harsher. Therefore, after leaving the port and sailing just a few dozen nautical miles, all the ships changed v