RRS Ernest Shackleton

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RRS Ernest Shackleton
Career (UK)
Namesake: Ernest Shackleton
Owner: GC Rieber Shipping AS
Operator: British Antarctic Survey
Builder: Kverner Klevin Leirvik A/S, Norway
Launched: 1995 as the MV Polar Queen
Homeport: Stanley, Falkland Islands
Fate: in service
Notes: [1][2][3]
General characteristics
Class and type:

Royal Research Ship

DnV +1A1 Icebreaker Ice 05 EO Helidk ICS Dynpos-Autr W1 (Research/Survey/Cargo)
Displacement: 4,028 tonnes (Gross)
5,455 tonnes (loaded)
Length: 80.0 m
Beam: 17.0 m
Draught: 6.15 m
Propulsion: 2 x Bergen Diesel BRM 6 each 2550 kW
Speed: 11 knots (max: 14)
Range: 40,000 nautical miles
Endurance: 130 days
Complement: 72 including crew

RRS Ernest Shackleton is a Royal Research Ship operated by the British Antarctic Survey. She is primarily a logistics ship used for the resupply of scientific stations in the Antarctic.

Contents

[edit] History

Launched in 1995 as MV Polar Queen for GC Rieber Shipping AS, she was operated in the Antarctic by other national programmes. The British Antarctic Survey acquired her on a long-term bareboat charter in August 1999 and renamed her RRS Ernest Shackleton after the British polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.[4] She replaced the RRS Bransfield.

[edit] Construction

RRS Ernest Shackleton is ice strengthened with a double hull construction and is capable of a wide range of logistic tasks as well as having a scientific capability. She has a cargo tender "Tula" on deck for ship to shore transfer of equipment when the ship cannot berth alongside.[4]

[edit] Service

RRS Ernest Shackleton is primarily a logistic ship, used for the resupply of the Survey's Antarctic research stations. She loads cargo and science equipment in the Humber and sails to the Antarctic in September/October each year, returning in May/June. After annual refit/drydock, Ernest Shackleton is chartered for commercial survey work for the northern summer.[5]

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[edit] External links