MV Xue Long

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The Xue Long is a Chinese icebreaker and research vessel.[1]

The Xue Long is the sister ship of the Vasiliy Golovnin, described as a Vitus Bering Class icebreaker.[2][3] The Valiliy Golovnin was completed in 1988 in the Ukraine. The Xue Long was completed in 1993 in the Kherson Shipyard, Ukraine on March 25, 1993.[4]

[edit] Arctic Expeditions, 1999, 2003

Orthographic projection over Tuktoyaktuk, on the Beaufort Sea, the village where the Xue Long appeared unexpectedly.
Orthographic projection over Tuktoyaktuk, on the Beaufort Sea, the village where the Xue Long appeared unexpectedly.

The Xue Long's covered 14,000 nautical miles during its first Arctic expedition was 1999.[5][6] The first expedition lasted from July 1, 1999 to September 9, 1999.

The Xue Long is notable because its arrival at the small Canadian coastal village of Tuktoyaktuk, on the Arctic Ocean, in 1999, was unexpected.[7][8][9] The vessel had received help from Canadian weather service, and thought the auhtorities would be expecting her in Tuktoyaktuk.

The mixup through which Canadian authorities lost track of this vessel stirred enough controversy that the incident is still being cited as evidence of Canadian unpreparedness to defend its northern sovereignty.[7][9]

The Xue Long undertook a second Arctic expedition from July 15, 2003 to September 26, 2003.[5]

[edit] Specifications

Specifications of the Xue Long[4]
length 167 meters
beam 22.6 meters
draft 9 meters
displacement 21250 tons
cruising radius 12000 nautical miles
ice class rating

A2-class
1.2m at 2 knots
maximum speed 17.9 knots
lab space 200 square meters
aircraft 1 helicopter and helipad
accommodation
permanent crew 34
passenger or
research berths		 128

[edit] References

  1. ^ "XUE LONG", MARITIME SHIP COVERS FROM NEW ZEALAND. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. "The 'Xue Long' was previously known as the "Snow Dragon". The vessel is the main Chinese Antarctic support vessel. It is based at Shanghai and provides Icebreaking capabilities to the Chinese when re-supplying their two main Antarctic bases." 
  2. ^ "Antarctice support and research vessels", March 10, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  3. ^ "Davis Station News", Australian Government, pp. 4. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. "Later the same day the Xue Long anchored off Davis and the next afternoon we had 80 Chinese visitors ashore. Many made a beeline for the post office where Post Mistress Camilla “stamped until I dropped”. About 20 Davis folks also got a trip out to the Xue Long and a tour and meal (the ship is a younger sister ship to the Vasiliy Golovnin)." 
  4. ^ a b "M/V Xuelong", Polar Research Institute of China. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  5. ^ a b ""Snow Dragon" vessel Profile", Polar Research Institute of China. Retrieved on 2008-01-29.  Google translation
  6. ^ "SCIENCE AND DATA: Projects of Chinese Polar scientific research", Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  7. ^ a b "The Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence", Parliament of Canada, Tuesday, March 8, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. "It is beyond just making the symbolic gesture. What we need is the capability of knowing, and then responding. For example, when the Chinese research vessel Xue Long shows up in Tuktoyaktuk and somebody gets it wrong in the Canadian embassy so that we are totally unprepared, we actually have the capability from a combination of air and space assets that we have the necessary RCMP, customs, health officials waiting at Tuk to do the necessary clearance.

    "In the case of the Xue Long that was a relatively innocent voyage. The Chinese were still not sure why they were coming up there. The Chinese did give us notification. Once we got notification and it was bobbled, we had no independent capability. When the Xue Long showed up at Tuktoyaktuk, it got a deal. It gets down to the ability to actually have those assets so we have a proper intelligence picture of what is going on, so we can then respond to whatever level." 

  8. ^ Ed Struzik. "Who will guard our gaping back door?", The Edmonton Journal, Sunday, November 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. "The voyage of the Xue Long, the Chinese ship that showed up in Tuktoyaktuk, happened eight years ago, but it still highlights the problems Canada has asserting sovereignty and maintaining security in the Canadian Arctic. Not only did the icebreaker sail into Canadian waters undetected, it got help from the Canadian Ice Service, which used Radarsat imaging to help the captain find a way through thick ice that had stopped it dead off the north coast of Alaska." 
  9. ^ a b Jane George. "Arctic borders need tighter control, former commander says", Nunatsiaq News, February 1, 2001. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. "But, even now, the Arctic waters aren’t totally secure.

    "A few years ago, a Chinese research vessel, the Xue Long, arrived unannounced in Tuktoyaktuk. Much to the surprise of residents, a cruise ship pulled up last summer in Resolute." 


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