A SUFFOLK businessman is today due to set sail for the Antarctic as part of adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ latest expedition.

Anton Bowring, owner of Leiston-based removals and storage company Revells, has been involved in providing logistics support to Sir Runulph for more than 30 years and, together with the explorer, is co-leader of his next trip, The Coldest Journey.

The expedition involves making the first crossing of the Antarctic, via the South Pole, during the southern hemisphere winter.

Team members are due to leave London this afternoon on board their ship, the SA Agulhas, and to arrive in the Antarctic in mid-January, with the overland journey of nearly 2,400 miles scheduled to begin after the March equinox, marking the official start of the Antarctic winter, and to take around six months.

The Coldest Journey aims to raise US$10million for Seeing Is Believing, a collaboration between the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness and banking group Standard Chartered – lead sponsor of the expedition – which aims to tackle preventable blindness around the world.

The team will also take advantage of the unique opportunity represented by the journey to record scientific data, and this will also form part of a package of educational material for schools.

: : EADT business editor Duncan Brodie visited the SA Agulhas in London as it was being prepared for the expedition. For further details on The Coldest Journey and Anton Bowring’s involvement in the mission, see next Tuesday’s BusinessEast supplement.