UK plans new ship for polar exploration
APR 28, 2014
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027882
BBC : The UK has just commissioned the biggest and most capable polar ship in the world. It will join two others, the Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross and the RRS Ernest Shackleton, to augment the UK’s exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic. Still in the design phase, the new icebreaker will have a helipad, cranes, labs, and room for up to 60 scientists and support staff. At 130 m long and 25 m wide, it will be able to break through 2-m-thick ice floes while traveling at three knots. Although the ship is planned to be in service by 2019, where it will be built—whether in the UK or another European Union country—is still to be decided.
© 2014 American Institute of Physics
