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The most technologically advanced drillship in the world is not on lovaton in the gulf of mexico or in a Korean shipyard. Actually it’s not even built yet. Meet the Aurora Borealis, a dynamically positioned, drillship/icebreaker, arctic research vessel designed for the European Union. The official website tells us;

The Research Icebreaker AURORA BOREALIS will be the most advanced Polar Research Vessel in the world with a multi-functional role of drilling in deep ocean basins and supporting climate/environmental research for the next 40 years.

The new technological features will include azimuth propulsion systems, satellite navigation, ice-management support, deep-sea drilling under a closed sea-ice cover and the deployment and operation of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) from one of the two moon-pools.

The unique feature of the vessel is the drilling rig, which will enable sampling of the ocean floor down to 5000 m water depth and with 1000 m penetration into the seafloor at the most inhospitable places on earth. The drilling capability will be deployed in both polar regions and AURORA BOREALIS will be the only vessel worldwide to undertake this type of scientific investigation.

Technical Details:

• Powerful icebreaker with ca. 55 MW (diesel-electric)
• Highest classification for icebreakers
• Twin hull
• Two moon pools 7 x 7 m each
• Dynamic Positioning System
• Deep-sea drilling under a closed sea-ice cover
• Drilling rig: max. 5,000 m water depth and 1,000 m core
• Riserless drilling technology
• Modularized mobile laboratory systems - mission specific laboratories
Length over all ca. 180 m | Beam ca. 40 m | Personnel (crew + scientists) 120 | Expedition duration 60 days.

For more information on the Aurora Borealis visit the official website HERE or download the presentation HERE. For the oceanography geeks a more detailed study can be found HERE.

UPDATE: The BBC has just run an excellent article on this vessel which can be found HERE.

Note: This article was originally posted in Jan 08

Ship Name: RCMP vessel St Roch (pronounced “Saint Rock”)

Vital Statistics (1944 configuration):
Length: 31.8 m (104’3”) Beam: 7.5 m (24’7”) Draft: 3.25 m (10’8”) Tonnage: 196.5 t
Hull: Douglas fir with Australian gumwood outer hull; rounded hull to allow ice to slide underneath; steel plate covering bow
Power source: 150 hp Union diesel, 6 cylinder; schooner rigged
Built: Burrard Drydock Shipyard, North Vancouver, 1928 (Charles Druguid design with modifications by Thomas Halliday)

St Roch was built specifically for the RCMP to patrol the Arctic. The ship was named after the Quebec east riding of Ernest Lapointe, then Federal Minister of Justice responsible for the RCMP. Launched on May 7, 1928, she began a long and successful career that ended in 1950 when officially retired from duty in Halifax. St Roch sailed through the Panama Canal in 1954 to return to Vancouver.

What was the significance of St Roch?

• First vessel to sail the Northwest Passage from west to east (1940 – 1942)
• First vessel to complete the Northwest Passage in one season (1944), also making it the first to use the more northerly, deeper route and to complete the Passage in both directions
• First vessel to circumnavigate North America
• Survived 12 winters stuck in the ice for 10 months at a time
• King George VI awarded the prestigious Polar Medal to Henry Larsen and the crew who sailed during the 1944 voyage
• Declared a National Historic Site (1962)

What was the RCMP’s role in the Arctic? [Continue Reading →]

The Picture Blog, Dark Roasted Blend is featuring a series on Russian Nuclear Icebreakers.

Here’s a sample: The balance of the pics are here.

Paired up for the voyage

The Voyage Plan

Sunrise

The Reactor Control Room

The Reactor

Here’s the video version via Sea Fever.

Nuclear Icebreaker

for more Nuclear Goodness CLICK HERE or take our nuclear cargo quiz HERE.

Photos by Svetlana Bogdanova; seamen of the Murmansk Sea Shipping Company via Dark Roasted Blend. Blog post by gCaptain and Bitterend’s chief blogger Richard Rodriguez

BitterEnd reports that the Royal Navy Ice patrol ship HMS ENDURANCE, which amongst other tasks is carrying survey work in the Antarctic on behalf of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) to improve Safety of Life at Sea products and services, has located the wreck of a cruise liner which sank last year.

Listen to our podcast on the M/V Explorer sinking HERE then read our previous posts HERE and HERE.

Also be sure to take a look at these excellent BitterEnd posts:

• Invasive Tunicate Found in the San Juan Islands

• Drone Boats

• Japanese CG pursues Sea Shepard Vessel

• Military Sealift Command

• Riverdance Flounders After Rogue Wave

Crew members aboard the icebreaker Oden use a helicopter to scout for naturally occurring channels called leads, which allow the ship to make its way deep into the Arctic ice pack. The heli crew also helps locate wayward robots, which emit homing signals from a tracking beacon.
Photo: Chris Linder
View Slideshow

Many Thanks to the BitterEnd Blog for this story find! To see the full story and video at Wired Mag, CLICK HERE.

YouTube user 20greatlakes07 recently put together this video of the USCG Icebreaker Mackinaw’s unsuccessful, but valiant, attempt to free the Great Lakes freighter Edgar B. Speer from ice in Lake Michigan.

Stay tuned for information on the Mackinaw’s mighty replacement but in the meantime you can find photos of the now retired icebreaker HERE.

In the official 2004 USCG Coast Guard press release we learn; [Continue Reading →]