Pool research vessel / Icebreaker from Bremerhaven (Germany). The ship usually spends the summer months in the Antarctic, from December to May, in the Southern hemisphere. From June to October, the icebreaker can be found in the waters around Spitsbergen and Greenland, or north of Siberia. The "Polarstern" is a double-hulled icebreaker operational at temperatures as low as -50 °C, which enables her to overwinter in the ice sheets of the polar seas. The "Polarstern" can break through ice 1.5 metres thick at a speed of approx. 5 knots. Thicker ice must be broken by ramming. Constructed at Howaldtswerke/ Deutsche Werft, Kiel and Werft Nobisburg, Rendsburg.
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"Polarstern" in the Antarctic ice.
More information and photos on http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de .
Last update November 9th 2002