Laura Bassi (icebreaker)
 The Ernest Shackleton (1999–2019), now N/R Laura Bassi (2019-)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Norway | |
| Name | Polar Queen |
| Owner | GC Rieber Shipping |
| Port of registry | Bergen[1] |
| Builder | Kværner Kleven Leirvik A/S, Leirvik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway |
| Cost | $27,352,000[1] |
| Yard number | 267 |
| Laid down | 26 November 1994 |
| Launched | July 1995 |
| Completed | 27 September 1995 |
| In service | 1995–1999 |
| Fate | Transferred to British Antarctic Survey |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Ernest Shackleton |
| Namesake | Sir Ernest Shackleton |
| Owner | GC Rieber Shipping |
| Operator | British Antarctic Survey |
| Port of registry | Stanley, Falkland Islands |
| In service | 1999–2019 |
| Fate | Sold to Italy |
 Italy | |
| Name | Laura Bassi |
| Namesake | Laura Bassi |
| Owner | Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS) |
| Acquired | 2019 |
| Identification | IMO number: 9114256 |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type |
|
| Displacement | 5455 tonnes loaded |
| Length | 80 m (262 ft) |
| Beam | 17.0 m (56 ft) |
| Draught | 6.15 m (20 ft) |
| Ice class | DNV ICE-05 Icebreaker |
| Installed power | 2 x Bergen Diesel BRM 6 each 2550 kW |
| Propulsion | Thrusters : 816 Hp x 3 + 1088 Hp x 1 + 1 Azimuth 1088 Hp[2] |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 40,000 nautical miles (74,000 km; 46,000 mi) |
| Endurance | 130 days |
| Complement | 72 (22 Officers/Crew, 50 expedition personnel) |
| Aviation facilities | Helicopter deck, max helicopter weight 10 tonnes |
Laura Bassi (formerly Polar Queen and RRS Ernest Shackleton) is an icebreaking research vessel operated by the Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Applied Geophysics, (in Italian: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale - OGS). In February 2023, she set a record by sailing further south than any ship before, achieving 78°44•280´S in the Bay of Whales, which was made possible by an unusual lack of ice.[3] Between 1999 and 2019, she was the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) logistics ship, primarily used for the resupply of scientific stations in the Antarctic.
History
[edit]Launched in July 1995 as MV Polar Queen for GC Rieber Shipping, she was operated in the Antarctic by other national programmes.[specify] The BAS acquired her on a long-term bareboat charter in August 1999 to replace RRS Bransfield. She was renamed RRS Ernest Shackleton in 2000, after the Anglo-Irish polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton,[4] but was known to users as "The Shack". After 20 years of polar duties for BAS, Ernest Shackleton was returned to her owners on 30 April 2019.[4]
OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale) acquired the ship on 9 May 2019. They renamed her RV Laura Bassi, in honour of the first woman to earn a professorship in physics at a university and the first woman in the world to be appointed a university chair in a scientific field of studies.[5]
Construction
[edit]N/R Laura Bassi is ice strengthened with a double hull construction. In November 2020, she was certified Category A PC5 according to the Polar Code rules. She is capable of a wide range of logistic tasks, as well as having a scientific capability.
Service
[edit]Between 1999 and 2019, RRS Ernest Shackleton was the main logistic ship for the BAS. She was used to resupply the survey's Antarctic research stations and also had a research capability. "Tula", a cargo tender stored on deck, allowed transfer ashore of stores and equipment when the ship could not berth alongside.[4] During the northern summer, she was commercially chartered, often working in the North Sea.[4] On charter to Crystal Cruise Line, she escorted its 68,000 ton liner Crystal Serenity through Canada's Northwest Passage in late August/September 2016 and 2017. In the austral summer 2019/2020, she carried out the first Antarctic mission under the Italian flag, completing two rotations between New Zealand and Zucchelli Station, the Italian Antarctic base.
See also
[edit]- RRS James Clark Ross, another former British Antarctic Survey Royal Research Ship.
- RRS Sir David Attenborough, a new Royal Research Ship which entered service in 2021.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Ernest Shackleton (9114256)". Sea-web. S&P Global. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
- ^ Mike Gloistein. "RRS Ernest Shackleton". Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
- ^ "Italian Vessel In Antarctica Reaches New Destinations As Polar Ice Melts". NDTV.com. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d "RRS Ernest Shackleton". British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ Findlen, Paula. "Science as a Career in Enlightenment Italy : The Strategies of Laura Bassi." Isis, vol. 84, no. 3, 1993: 441–469.
External links
[edit]- Image of RRS Ernest Shackleton on the British Antarctic Survey website.