L'Astrolabe (2016 icebreaker)

Last updated
L'Astrolabe e Konk-Kerne 01.jpg
L'Astrolabe in Concarneau, France, on 22 January 2017
Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svgFrance
NameL'Astrolabe
Namesake Astrolabe
Owner French Southern and Antarctic Lands administration
Port of registry Concarneau, France
OrderedJune 2015
Builder
Cost50 million euro
Yard numberC325
Launched22 December 2016 [1]
Christened12 July 2017 [2]
CompletedSeptember 2017 [3]
Homeport Réunion [4]
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Type Icebreaker
Tonnage
Length72 m (236 ft)
Beam16 m (52 ft)
Ice class BV Icebreaker 5
Installed power4 ×  Wärtsilä 8L20 (4 × 1,600 kW)
PropulsionTwo shafts; controllable pitch propellers
Endurance35 days at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Capacity
  • 1,200 tons of cargo
  • Accommodation for 60 personnel
Aviation facilitiesHelipad and hangar

L'Astrolabe is a French icebreaker that is used to bring personnel and supplies to the Dumont d'Urville Station in Antarctica. The vessel, built by Chantiers Piriou and delivered in September 2017, replaced the 1986-built vessel of the same name.

Contents

Development and construction

In June 2015, the Ministry of Overseas France awarded the construction of a 50 million Euro polar logistics vessel to the Chantiers Piriou from Concarneau in Brittany. The vessel, based on a concept developed by French naval architecture company Marine Assistance, combines the functions of the two existing French ships it replaced: the 1966-built patrol vessel L'Albatros and the 1986-built icebreaker L'Astrolabe . The new vessel is owned and operated by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) administration, the French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) and the French Navy. [6]

Since Chantiers Piriou had no experience of building an ice-going vessel, the French shipyard joined forces with the Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic in order to be able to bid against foreign shipyards such as the German Nordic Yards. [6] Later, Aker Arctic was also chosen to carry out basic design and ice model testing for the vessel. [7]

Since the Chantiers Piriou shipyard was fully booked with ship orders from the French Navy, the construction of the hull was subcontracted to a Polish shipyard. The production of the vessel began on 16 December at CRIST in Gdynia, Poland. On 22 December 2016, approximately one year later, the vessel was floated out from the dry dock. [1] The unfinished vessel was then towed to France for final outfitting. [8] The ship, which was given the name L'Astrolabe after her predecessor on 12 July, was delivered in September 2017.

Career

L'Astrolabe was deployed in the Indian Ocean in 2017, and carried out her first resupply mission to the Dumont d'Urville Station in Adélie Land, Antarctica, in 2018. [6]

In November 2019, a major defect in the ship's propeller forced L'Astrolabe to cancel the resupply mission to France's Antarctic research stations. French expeditioners, cargo and supplies will instead be carried on the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis which was made available by the Australian Antarctic Division. [9]

In spring 2021 the ship engaged in a surveillance and fisheries patrol mission around the Scattered Islands and Mayotte to monitor the French Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). [10]

Most recently in September 2021 the ship docked at the BAE Systems Shipyard [11] near Fremantle, Western Australia for some out of water repairs. [12]

Design

L'Astrolabe is 72 metres (236 ft) long and 16 metres (52 ft), making the new vessel somewhat larger than her 66-metre (217 ft) predecessor. The vessel can carry 1,200 tons of cargo and has accommodation for up to 60 personnel, which includes the crew of the vessel. She can also accommodate a helicopter belowdecks. [13] [14]

The vessel is powered by four 1,600 kW (2,100 hp) Wärtsilä 8L20 medium-speed diesel engines driving two stainless steel controllable pitch propellers. [15] She is also fitted with selective catalytic reduction units to reduce NOx emissions and comply with IMO Tier III emission regulations. [16]

L'Astrolabe is classified by Bureau Veritas. Her ice class, Icebreaker 5, means that she is allowed to operate independently in medium first-year-ice up to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) thick during the summer and autumn and up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) thick during the winter and spring. The vessel is also allowed to ram ice at a speed of 5.5 knots (10.2 km/h; 6.3 mph), but the ramming shall not be repeated if the ice does not fail at the first attempt. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumont d'Urville Station</span> Administrative centre and Antarctic base in Archipelago of Pointe-Géologie, France

The Dumont d'Urville Station is a French scientific station in Antarctica on Île des Pétrels, archipelago of Pointe-Géologie in Adélie Land. It is named after explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, whose expedition landed on Débarquement Rock in the Dumoulin Islands at the northeast end of the archipelago on January 21, 1840. It is operated by the "French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor", a joint operation of French public and para-public agencies. It is the administrative centre of Adélie Land.

<i>Krasin</i> (1976 icebreaker) Russian (formerly Soviet) icebreaker

The Krasin is a Russian icebreaker. The vessel operates in polar regions.

MV <i>Captain Kurbatskiy</i>

MV Captain Kurbatskiy was a Russian SA-15 type cargo ship originally known as Nizhneyansk (Нижнеянск) after a port of the same name. The ship was delivered from Valmet Vuosaari shipyard in 1983 as the second ship of a series of 19 icebreaking multipurpose arctic freighters built by Valmet and Wärtsilä, another Finnish shipbuilder, for the Soviet Union for year-round service in the Northern Sea Route. These ships, designed to be capable of independent operation in arctic ice conditions, were of extremely robust design and had strengthened hulls resembling those of polar icebreakers.

<i>Aurora Australis</i> (icebreaker) Australian icebreaker and research ship

Aurora Australis was an Australian icebreaker. Built by Carrington Slipways and launched in 1989, the vessel is owned by P&O Maritime Services. It was regularly chartered by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) for research cruises in Antarctic waters and to support Australian bases in Antarctica.

<i>Taymyr</i> (1987 icebreaker) Nuclear-powered shallow draft icebreaker

Taymyr is a shallow-draft nuclear-powered icebreaker, and the first of two similar vessels. She was built in 1989 for the Soviet Union in Finland, at the Helsinki Shipyard by Wärtsilä Marine, by order of the Murmansk Shipping Company. Her sister ship is Vaygach.

<i>Vaygach</i> (1989 icebreaker)

Vaygach is a shallow-draught nuclear-powered icebreaker. She was built in 1989 for the Soviet Union by Wärtsilä Marine Helsinki Shipyard in Finland by order of the Murmansk Shipping Company. Her sister ship is Taymyr.

MV <i>Xue Long</i> Chinese polar research vessel

Xue Long is a Chinese icebreaking research vessel. Built in 1993 at Kherson Shipyard in Ukraine, she was converted from an Arctic cargo ship to a polar research and re-supply vessel by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding of Shanghai by the mid-1990s. The vessel was extensively upgraded in 2007 and 2013.

Magadan is a Russian icebreaker and the second vessel in a series of three subarctic icebreakers built at Wärtsilä Helsinki shipyard in Finland in 1982–1983. The vessel's sister ships are Mudyug and Dikson.

SCF Sakhalin is a Russian icebreaking platform supply and standby vessel owned by SCF Sakhalin Vessels Limited, a subsidiary of Sovcomflot. The ship was built by Aker Finnyards Helsinki shipyard in Finland in 2005 as FESCO Sakhalin for Far East Shipping Company (FESCO), but was purchased by Sovcomflot and renamed in 2010. Since the beginning it has been in long-term charter for Exxon Neftegas Ltd. and used to supply oil platforms in the Sakhalin-I project.

CCGS <i>John G. Diefenbaker</i> Canadian Heavy Polar Icebreaker

CCGS John G. Diefenbaker is the name for a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that had been expected to join the fleet by 2017 but has been significantly delayed. Her namesake, John G. Diefenbaker, was Canada's 13th prime minister. It was Diefenbaker's government that founded the Canadian Coast Guard in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar Class</span> Ice class

Polar Class (PC) refers to the ice class assigned to a ship by a classification society based on the Unified Requirements for Polar Class Ships developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). Seven Polar Classes are defined in the rules, ranging from PC 1 for year-round operation in all polar waters to PC 7 for summer and autumn operation in thin first-year ice.

Ywam Liberty French icebreaking research vessel

YWAM Liberty is the former L'Astrolabe, a French icebreaking research vessel which was used to supply the Dumont d'Urville research station in Antarctica. The vessel made regular voyages between Hobart and the Dumont D'Urville research station for fifteen years and was replaced by a new icebreaker bearing the same name in 2017.

Aker Arctic Technology Oy is a Finnish engineering company that operates an ice model test basin in Helsinki. In addition to ship model testing, the company offers various design, engineering and consulting services related to icebreakers, other icegoing vessels and arctic offshore projects as well as full scale trials, field expeditions and training for icy conditions. Formerly the arctic research centre of Wärtsilä and later Masa-Yards, Aker Arctic was established on 30 December 2004 as an independent company with Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, ABB and Aker Solutions as its current shareholders.


A double acting ship is a type of icebreaking ship designed to travel forwards in open water and thin ice, but turn around and proceed astern (backwards) in heavy ice conditions. In this way, the ship can operate independently in severe ice conditions without icebreaker assistance but retain better open water performance than traditional icebreaking vessels.

<i>Baltika</i> (icebreaker) Russian icebreaker with asymmetric hull

Baltika is a Russian icebreaker built by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. She is the first ship ever built with an asymmetric hull that allows her to operate not only ahead and astern, but also obliquely (sideways) with a large angle of attack. In this way, the relatively small oblique icebreaker is capable of opening a wide channel in ice for large merchant ships.

<i>Polaris</i> (icebreaker) Finnish icebreaker

Polaris is a Finnish icebreaker. Built in 2016 by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, she is the most powerful icebreaker ever to fly the Finnish flag and the first icebreaker in the world to feature environmentally friendly dual-fuel engines capable of using both low-sulfur marine diesel oil (LSMDO) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Polaris was initially ordered by the Finnish Transport Agency, but the ownership was transferred to the state-owned icebreaker operator Arctia after delivery.

<i>Moskva</i> (2007 icebreaker) Russian icebreaker

Moskva is a Russian Project 21900 diesel-electric icebreaker. Built at Baltic Shipyard in 2008, she was the first non-nuclear-powered icebreaker built in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

RV <i>Kronprins Haakon</i> Norwegian icebreaking polar research vessel

RV Kronprins Haakon is a Norwegian icebreaking polar research vessel owned by the Norwegian Polar Institute. The shiptime use is divided between the main users, the University of Tromsø, Norwegian Polar Institute and Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. She was built at Fincantieri shipyard in Genova, Italy, and delivered in 2018.

MV <i>Xue Long 2</i> Chinese polar research vessel

MV Xue Long 2 is a Chinese icebreaking research vessel that entered service in 2019. She follows the naming of MV Xue Long, China's first polar research vessel.

<i>Dikson</i> (icebreaker) Russian icebreaker

Dikson is a Russian icebreaker and the final vessel in a series of three subarctic icebreakers built at Wärtsilä Helsinki shipyard in Finland in 1982–1983. The vessel's sister ships are Mudyug and Magadan.

References

  1. 1 2 French Polar Logisitcs Support Vessel L'Astrolabe Launched in Poland. Navy Recognition, 24 December 2016. Retrieved2016-12-25.
  2. ↑ Baptême du nouveau navire polaire "L'Astrolabe" ce mercredi 12 juillet 2017. TAAF, 13 July 2017. Retrieved2017-07-16.
  3. ↑ French Navy receives icebreaker and patrol vessel L'Astrolabe. Naval Today, 13 July 2017. Retrieved2017-07-16.
  4. ↑ Polar Logistic Ice-breaker L'Astrolabe on the way to home port Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine . Piriou, 12 August 2017. Retrieved2017-10-31.
  5. 1 2 "L'Astrolabe (9797539)" . Equasis. French Ministry for Transport . Retrieved 2017-07-16.
  6. 1 2 3 Piriou construira le successeur de l'Albatros et de L'Astrolabe. Mer et Marine, 10 June 2015. Retrieved2016-02-07.
  7. ↑ Aker Arctic and PIRIOU shipyard have signed a contract for the basic design for a Polar Logistics Vessel Archived 2016-02-02 at archive.today . Aker Arctic. Retrieved2016-02-07.
  8. ↑ La construction de l'Astrolabe a débuté. Mer et Marine, 6 January 2016. Retrieved2016-02-07.
  9. ↑ Nogrady, Bianca (26 November 2019). "Australian icebreaker will resupply French Antarctic bases". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03644-8. PMID   33235379. S2CID   213938444 . Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  10. ↑ "L'Astrolabe on Indian Ocean EEZ Patrol – SeaWaves Magazine".
  11. ↑ "Commercial ship repair".
  12. ↑ "Australia to host French icebreaker on Antarctic resupply mission". 30 August 2021.
  13. ↑ PIRIOU - PLV DE 72 M EN CONSTRUCTION Archived 2016-01-31 at the Wayback Machine . PIRIOU, 6 January 2016. Retrieved2016-03-02.
  14. ↑ Basic design agreement for French polar logistics vessel. Arctic Passion News 2/2015. Retrieved2018-12-02.
  15. ↑ L'ASTROLABE P 800 IMO.9797539. Bateaux-Fecamp. Retrieved2017-07-16.
  16. ↑ New support icebreaker in Antarctic featuring Wärtsilä propulsion machinery. Wärtsilä, 23 November 2015. Retrieved2016-02-07.
  17. ↑ Rules for the Classification of POLAR CLASS and ICEBREAKER Ships. Bureau Veritas, April 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.