The tented refuge includes a living area furnished with a central warming stove, fur rugs, a library and maps of the South Pole in tribute to early Victorian explorers.

BBC: Camp with penguins in Antarctica

With the integrity of the eurozone, one of the three great economic areas, in some doubt, it is seriously discombobulating for banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurers and central banks that the safe harbour of US Treasury Bonds, US government debt, no longer looks quite the comforting refuge in a storm that it once was.

BBC: As the US loses AAA, where is a safe harbour?