Feature 3 | ICE CLASS VESSELS
Fleet modernisation signals new commitment to Polar research
Europe, the USA and South Africa are all in the throes of developing new research vessels as the race to develop the Polar regions hots up. By David Tinsley.
A
clutch of new projects, some implemented and a number of others planned, will see a substantial
modernisation and development of the polar research and expeditionary vessel fleet over the next five or six years. Te various initiatives testify to a renewed commitment by countries to their scientific obligations and long-term strategic objectives as regards the Arctic region and Antarctica. For the maritime industries, these goals translate into design and newbuild contracts of high intensity as regards capital, technology, equipment and man-hour input. A report issued in November by the
Wissenschaftsrat, the highest scientific advisory board for the German federal government, focused on the future development of the German marine research fleet, placing special emphasis on perceived urgent needs as regards Arctic and Antarctic research capacity. The Wissenschaftsrat has been a key
proponent of the European research icebreaker project back in 2006, conceived by Germany as an international endeavour. Tis had foreseen the construction of the unique Aurora Borealis, designed to combine the qualities of a heavy icebreaker, a scientific drilling ship, and a multipurpose research platform capable of operating year-round in all polar waters. Estimated build costs had been around €650 million at 2008 levels, and it had been anticipated that ship construction could start in 2012 with a view to the vessel making her first scientific expedition in 2014. However, the project has yet to reach the
newbuild contract stage, and those timelines could now go back two years or more. Te Wissenschaftsrat report referred to the increases in both construction and running costs during the planning phase, and also to the unsettled financing status of the international scheme. Against this backcloth, the report’s authors
have suggested a national initiative, whereby Germany should go ahead with the building
54 The Naval Architect January 2011
Germany looks to design a new research icebreaker that could be in operation by 2016, encapsulating some features of the Aurora Borealis.
of a new research icebreaker on its own account. Te proposed vessel encapsulates a less ambitious technical capability than the Aurora Borealis, but could be brought into operation in 2016, without having to wait for the outcome of the protracted discussions of the Aurora Borealis international consortium. Te merit of the proposal, it is argued,
is that a new German ship would enable key new elements of research to get under way without further delay. Furthermore, by
retaining the country’s existing polar research vessel Polarstern for longer than originally foreseen, there would be an interim, overlap period in which two highly sophisticated vessels would be available to investigate both polar regions simultaneously. The advocated German newbuild,
estimated to cost €450 million, would be significantly less capital-intensive than Aurora Borealis, but would employ similar technologies and characteristics of the latter, including year-round operating capability in
Modernising the fleet may not be as costly as expected.
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