L'Astrolabe (2016 icebreaker)
L'Astrolabe in Kiel
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | L'Astrolabe |
| Namesake: | Astrolabe |
| Owner: | French Southern and Antarctic Lands administration |
| Ordered: | June 2015 |
| Builder: | CRIST, Gdynia, Poland (hull) Chantiers Piriou, Concarneau, France (outfitting) |
| Cost: | 50 million euro |
| Yard number: | C325 |
| Launched: | 22 December 2016 |
| Completed: | 2017 (planned) |
| Identification: | IMO number: 9797539 |
| Status: | Under construction |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 72 m (236 ft) |
| Beam: | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Ice class: | BV Icebreaker 5 |
| Installed power: | Four Wärtsilä 20 series diesel engines |
| Propulsion: | Two shafts; controllable pitch propellers |
| Endurance: | 35 days at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Capacity: | 1,200 tons of cargo Accommodation for 60 personnel |
| Aviation facilities: | Helipad and hangar |
L'Astrolabe is a French icebreaker that will be used to bring personnel and supplies to the Dumont d'Urville Station in Antarctica. The vessel, currently under construction, is expected to enter service in 2017. Upon completition, she will replace the 1986-built L'Astrolabe.
In June 2015, the Ministry of Overseas France awarded the construction of a 50 million euro polar logistics vessel to the Chantiers Piriou from Concarneau. The vessel, which will be based on a concept developed by French naval architecture company Marine Assistance, will combine the functions of the two existing French ships it will replace: the 1966-built patrol vessel L'Albatros and the 1986-built icebreaker L'Astrolabe. The new vessel will be owned and operated by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) administration, the French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) and the French Navy.
Since Chantiers Piriou had no experience of building an ice-going vessel, the French shipyard joined forces with the Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic in order to be able to bid against foreign shipyards such as the German Nordic Yards. Later, Aker Arctic was also chosen to carry out basic design and ice model testing for the vessel.
Since the Chantiers Piriou shipyard is fully booked with ship orders from the French Navy, the construction of the hull was subcontracted to a Polish shipyard. The production of the vessel began on 16 December at CRIST in Gdynia, Poland. On 22 December 2016, approximately one year later, the vessel was floated out from the dry dock. The unfinished vessel will then be towed to France for final outfitting. The ship, which was given the name L'Astrolabe after her predecessor, is scheduled to be delivered in the summer of 2017.
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Wikipedia