Laura Bassi (icebreaker)
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). Between 1999 and 2019, she was the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) logistics ship, primarily used for the resupply of scientific stations in the Antarctic.
 The Ernest Shackleton (1999–2019), nowadays 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 |
History
Launched in July 1995 as MV Polar Queen for GC Rieber Shipping, she was operated in the Antarctic by other national programmes. 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,[3] 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.[3]
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.[4] In February 2023, she set a record by becoming the first vessel to sail further south in the Antarctica than any ship has done before.[5]
Construction
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
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.[3] During the northern summer, she was commercially chartered, often working in the North Sea.[3] 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
- 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
- "Ernest Shackleton (9114256)". Sea-web. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
- Mike Gloistein. "RRS Ernest Shackleton". Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
- "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.
- "Italian Vessel In Antarctica Reaches New Destinations As Polar Ice Melts". NDTV.com. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
External links
- Image of RRS Ernest Shackleton on the British Antarctic Survey website.