| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Aurora Borealis |
| Namesake: | Aurora Borealis |
| Operator: | European Science Foundation |
| Cost: | 650 million euros (2008 estimate)[1] |
| Laid down: | 2012 (planned)[1] |
| Completed: | 2014 (planned)[1] |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type: | Icebreaker |
| Displacement: | 65,000 tons |
| Length: | LOA 199.85 m (655.7 ft) LBP 174.27 m (571.8 ft) |
| Beam: | 49 m (161 ft) (moulded) 45 m (148 ft) (waterline) |
| Draught: | 13 m (43 ft) |
| Ice class: | PC1 |
| Installed power: | Eight main generators, 94 MW |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric; three shafts (3 × 27 MW) Three fixed-pitch propellers Six retractable transverse thrusters |
| Speed: | 15.5 kn (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) (max) 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) (cruising) 2–3 kn (3.7–5.6 km/h; 2.3–3.5 mph) in 2.5 m (8.2 ft) multi-year ice |
| Endurance: | 90 days |
| Crew: | Accommodations for 120 personnel (science and crew) |
| Aviation facilities: | Helipad and hangar for three helicopters |
Research Icebreaker Aurora Borealis is a project to build "the most advanced icebreaker in the world" by a consortium of fifteen parties.[2] from ten European nations.
The project is coordinated by the European Polar Board, an expert board of the European Science Foundation.[3]
The first, preparatory phase of the ship development is to be completed in 2012 when actual construction works should begin, followed by sea trials and testing procedures. In 2014 the new European polar research vessel will set sail with an operational lifetime of 35 – 40 years.
| participant | location | |
|---|---|---|
| European Science Foundation | ESF | France |
| Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar und Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association | AWI | Germany |
| Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche | CNR | Italy |
| Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide | PNRA | Italy |
| Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique - Institut National des sciences L’Univers | CNRS-INSU | France |
| Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute | AARI | Russia |
| Institut Polaire Français Paul Emile Victor | IPEV | France |
| Merentutkimuslaitos (Finnish Institute of Marine Research) | MTL | Finland |
| Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research | NWO | Netherlands |
| University of Bergen | UIB | Norway |
| Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung | BMBF | Germany |
| Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique | FNRS | Belgium |
| Bulgarian Antarctic Institute | BAI | Bulgaria |
| Fundaţia Antarctică Română | FAR | Romania |
| Aker Arctic | AARC | Finland |