Russian Antarctic Vessel Docks In Cape Town
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An environmental activist-led outcry arose over the weekend when a Russian polar research ship moored in Cape Town, South Africa, sparking fears that it would assist Moscow in finding minerals in protected Antarctica.

This is the second Russian ship to dock in South Africa in the last few months.

Several members of the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion brandished signs that read, "Hands off Antarctica" as the polar research vessel Akademik Alexander Karpinsky arrived in Cape Town, Reuters reported.

Moreover, Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion protesters staged a rally at the port last week, alleging that the ship's seismic research in the Antarctic violated a 1958 international agreement and threatened local marine life.

Cassie Goodman, an Extinction Rebellion representative, said the South African government is harming the environment by allowing the Russian ship to moor in Cape Town, as reported by Reuters.

According to the 1998 Antarctic Treaty, signed by 55 nations, including Russia and South Africa, all mineral exploration and extraction in the region is strictly prohibited.

Also, the 1991 Madrid Protocol prohibits all mineral extraction in Antarctica and contains regulations for waste management, marine pollution avoidance, flora and fauna preservation, and tourism control.

The Akademik Alexander Karpinsky's operator, RosGeo, a state-owned exploration firm in Russia, claims to have been conducting hydrocarbon exploratory studies in Russia's designated region of Antarctica since 1970.

Rosgeo and other Russian state actors assert that the seafloor beneath the Antarctic continent is home to 500 billion barrels of oil and gas, Daily Maverick Reported.

The Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition, a division of RosGeo and a state-owned mineral exploration business in Russia, owns the ship.

The ship landed days after Sergei Lavrov, Russia's Foreign Minister, met with Pretoria officials. Western nations had expressed displeasure with South Africa's tight connections to Russia in light of Moscow's conflict with Ukraine.

Furthermore, South Africa has recently received a warning from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about the consequences of violating American sanctions. "Violation of those sanctions by local businesses or governments—we would respond to quickly and harshly, and we certainly urge compliance with those sanctions. That's the discussion I've had here," she said, as per Wall Street Journal.

Yellen also urged South African officials to follow the sanctions seriously. "My main message is that we take very seriously these sanctions that we've placed on Russia in response to its brutal invasion of Ukraine."