After approximately three hours aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane that was operated by Aerolineas Argentinas as a special charter flight for our group to travel from Buenos Aires, we began to see signs of our arrival in Ushuaia — which had me thinking about how our next stop would finally be in Antarctica.
Arrival in Ushuaia. Next Stop: Antarctica.
Much of the view along the way comprised of cumulous clouds and the Atlantic Ocean beneath them — which was rather monotonous — but one obvious sign that we were approaching Ushuaia was the view below of the Martial Mountains, which is at the southernmost part of the Andes mountain range in Tierra del Fuego and were capped with snow on this late spring day.
In the center of the photograph is the pier where the ship that would take us to Antarctica was docked. Thankfully, I was seated next to a window so that I could photograph the views from the airplane.
The city of Ushuaia itself is seen behind the terminal of Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport after the airplane landed and was decelerating on the runway.
Buses awaited us outside of the terminal to take us from the airport to the pier at what is known in Spanish as El Fin del Mundo, which translates into English as the End of the World.
We really were fortunate, as we were told that the weather in Ushuaia is usually cold and grey. On our day of arrival, the temperature was perfect; and the sun was shining brightly.
The seats on the bus were clean and reasonably comfortable for the short ride to the dock where the ship was located.
The first bus began to depart from the airport; and we were on our way.
Welcome to Ushuaia.
I did not realize at the time that of the two large vessels that were docked, the ship on the left was the SH Minerva that would take us to Antarctica.
This ship was built in 1943 by Camden Shipbuilding Company in New Jersey and was commissioned as the HMS Justice in 1944. In 1946 — after World War II had ended — the ship was returned to the United States Navy and decommissioned in 1947. Later that year, it was sold and was renamed the Saint Christopher, which was chartered in 1953 for salvage operations for several vessels in the Beagle Channel. After suffering from engine trouble and rudder damage in 1954, the Saint Christopher was beached and abandoned in Ushuaia in 1957, where it is still grounded and abandoned to this day.
Other boats are anchored in the Beagle Channel.
The SH Minerva awaited our arrival.
Final Boarding Call
After the buses dropped us off on the pier near where the ship was docked, all that separated us from Antarctica at this point was the notorious Drake Passage of the Southern Ocean — and the excitement was continuing to increase exponentially for all of us…
All photographs ©2025 by Brian Cohen.
