RRS Ernest Shackleton
 RRS Ernest Shackleton | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | Ernest Shackleton |
| Namesake: | Sir Ernest Shackleton |
| Owner: | GC Rieber Shipping |
| Operator: | British Antarctic Survey |
| Builder: | Kværner Kleven Leirvik A/S, Leirvik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway |
| Yard number: | 267 |
| Launched: | 1995 as MV Polar Queen |
| Homeport: | Stanley, Falkland Islands |
| Identification: |
|
| Status: | in service |
| Notes: | [1][2][3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: |
|
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: | 80 m (262 ft) |
| Beam: | 17.0 m (56 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.15 m (20 ft) |
| Ice class: | DNV ICE-05 |
| 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[1] |
| Speed: | 11 kn (20 km/h), max: 14 kn (26 km/h) |
| Range: | 40,000 nmi (74,000 km) |
| Endurance: | 130 days |
| Complement: | 72 including crew |
RRS Ernest Shackleton is a Royal Research Ship operated by the British Antarctic Survey. She is primarily a logistics ship used for the resupply of scientific stations in the Antarctic.
History
Launched in 1995 as MV Polar Queen for GC Rieber Shipping, she was operated in the Antarctic by other national programmes. The British Antarctic Survey acquired her on a long-term bareboat charter in August 1999 and renamed her RRS Ernest Shackleton after the Anglo-Irish polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.[4] She replaced RRS Bransfield. Known to users as the Shack, the ship has been chartered to Crystal Cruise Line to escort its 68,000 ton liner Crystal Serenity through Canada's Northwest Passage in late August/September 2016.
Construction
RRS Ernest Shackleton is ice strengthened with a double hull construction and is capable of a wide range of logistic tasks as well as having a scientific capability. She has a cargo tender "Tula" on deck for ship to shore transfer of equipment when the ship cannot berth alongside.[4]
Service
RRS Ernest Shackleton is primarily a logistic ship, used for the resupply of the Survey's Antarctic research stations. She loads cargo and science equipment in the Humber and sails to the Antarctic in September/October each year, returning in May/June. After annual refit/drydock, Ernest Shackleton is chartered out for commercial use in the northern summer.[5]
See also
- RRS James Clark Ross, another British Antarctic Survey Royal Research Ship.
Footnotes
- 1 2 3 Mike Gloistein. "RRS Ernest Shackleton". Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ↑ "Technical Data - RRS Ernest Shackleton". British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
- ↑ "BAS Public Information Leaflet - Ships". British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- 1 2 "RRS Ernest Shackleton". British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
- ↑ "BAS Research Ships". BAS. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
External links
- Image of RRS Ernest Shackleton on the British Antarctic Survey website.
- Ship's current position