Australia’s New Antarctic Icebreaker Floated

The procedure was achieved by raising the water level in the yard’s dry dock by six metres; a process taking two days to complete. Once afloat, the vessel was manoeuvred 250 metres to a quayside berth where the ongoing construction and outfitting process will take place.

Now that the vessel is afloat, construction will continue with the positioning of pre-fabricated superstructure blocks, bringing the finished vessel to its full 10-deck height of just over 50 metres.

Damen is building the 160-metre long vessel for Serco subsidiary DMS Maritime on behalf of the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy.

The 10,751 tonne ship has been designed with a multi-mission role in mind. It will keep Australia’s three permanent research stations on the Antarctic continent and its research station on Macquarie Island supplied with cargo, equipment and personnel.

Additionally, it will serve as a fully equipped research laboratory facility for up to 116 scientific staff.