Ranjita Weiss-Wendt’s Post

Bipolar ship: #Russia is building the largest and most versatile #icebreaker Russia has begun construction of the world's largest ice-class scientific expedition vessel #IvanFrolov. TechInsider talked about this unique project with the director of the #Arctic and #Antarctic Research Institute Alexander Makarov. #Polar Scientific Fleet Today the fleet of the Arctic Institute has three large vessels. The flagship is Akademik Fedorov, built in 1987 at the Finnish shipyard Rauma. "Akademik Treshnikov", which began its work in 2012, was already built at the Russian Admiralty shipyards. The unique ice-resistant self-propelled platform "North Pole" was launched there last year. On the one hand, all these vessels are intended for polar research, on the other hand, each has its own specialization. "Akademik Fedorov" is very roomy, it can take on board up to 240 passengers along with the crew. This is the limiting figure for a scientific expedition ship: one more person - and there will already be a category of passenger ships. The flagship serves to provide Russian Antarctic and Arctic stations, carry out scientific work in the polar regions, carries two helicopters and transports a huge amount of cargo and fuel. The most modern expedition ship is the #AkademikTreshnikov. In terms of its functionality, it largely coincides with the #AkademikFedorov, but there are nuances: there is a little more aviation fuel, a slightly lower passenger capacity, and the main function is to supply stations of a certain sector. Russian scientific stations in Antarctica (we have ten of them: five year-round and five seasonal) should be served by two ships, since they are located around the entire continent. The Antarctic summer is very short, and it is problematic to get around all the stations on one ship. And since the "Akademik Fedorov" is already running out of its resource (it will soon turn 40 years old), a replacement is required. **Google Translated** https://lnkd.in/ee4r4DZs