L'Astrolabe (1986 icebreaker)
Astrolabe berthed at Franklin Wharf in Hobart, Tasmania
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Name: |
|
| Namesake: | Astrolabe |
| Owner: | P&O Maritime Services (France) |
| Port of registry: |
Marseille,  France
|
| Builder: | Ferguson-Ailsa, Glasgow, United Kingdom |
| Yard number: | 567 |
| Completed: | 1 January 1986 |
| Identification: | |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Antarctic supply ship |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 65.5 m (214 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 12.8 m (42 ft 0 in) |
| Depth: | 5.35 m (17 ft 7 in) |
| Ice class: | 1A Super |
| Installed power: | 2 × Mirrlees Blackstone 8MB275 (2 × 2,300 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: |
|
| Capacity: | 50 passengers |
| Crew: | 5 officers, 7 other crew |
| Aviation facilities: | Helipad |
L'Astrolabe is a French icebreaking research vessel. Her duties include bringing personnel and supplies to the Dumont d'Urville research station in Antarctica. The vessel has been making regular voyages between Hobart and the Dumont D’Urville research station for fifteen years. L'Astrolabe is among the smallest research vessels working in Antarctic waters.
The vessel is frequently serviced in the Tasmanian shipyard Southern Marine Shiplift in Launceston. The yard's maximum ship displacement is 2150 Tonnes.
L'Astrolabe will be replaced by a new icebreaker bearing the same name in 2017.
The vessel has also traversed the Northeast passage. The European Space Agency reports a 1992 traverse "was the first civilian expedition through the NSR since the Russian revolution." L'Astrolabe was escorted on her transit by Russian icebreakers.
L'Astrolabe attempted to reach Akademik Shokalskiy, trapped by an outbreak of old glacial ice in the Antarctic Ocean. L'Astrolabe didn't match Chinese research vessel Xuě Lóng's 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) from the trapped Russian ship, but got closer than the Australian Aurora Australis' 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi). Withdrawing after encountering heavy ice, she subsequently supported further attempts by Xuě Lóng and Aurora Australis to reach Akademik Shokalskiy and rescue her passengers.
On January 27, 2005, a crew member was found to have gone overboard. The missing crew member's body was found.
...
Wikipedia