AUSTRALIA’S NEW ICEBREAKER
The RSV Nuyina (pronounced Noy-yee-nah) will be delivered to Hobart in 2020-21 and replace Australia’s current icebreaker RSV Aurora Australis. It has been purpose built for scientific research and should give us 30 years of good service.
The name Nuyina is a Tasmanian Aboriginal word meaning ‘Southern Lights’ and refers to the glowing, swirling, atmospheric lights that can be seen in Antarctica (and Tasmania as well), known as the Aurora Australis.
The ship has a very impressive list of capabilities. It can:
• break 1.65 m thick ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots • cruise efficiently at 12 knots, with a maximum speed of 16 knots • handle sea state 9 (waves over 14 m) • handle Beaufort 12 winds (hurricane) • cope with air temperatures as low as -30°C and up to 45°C • support voyages of up to 90 days
The ship will be the main lifeline to Australia’s three Antarctic research stations and its sub-Antarctic station on Macquarie Island, and will support Australia’s leadership role in Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research.
The Nuyina is the only ship in the world to have a watertight room or ‘wet well’ to process seawater for krill and other fragile marine organisms, at up to 1800 litres per minute.
Other state-of-the-art scientific equipment includes acoustic instruments to map and visualise the sea floor and organisms in the water column, and instruments to measure atmospheric gases, cloud properties, wave heights and ice conditions.
A new icebreaker represents a once in a generation investment by the Australian Government and is the centrepiece of the Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan launched on 27 April 2016.
The $1.9 billion package will cover the design, build and 30 year operational and maintenance lifespan of the icebreaker. It is the single biggest investment in the history of Australia’s Antarctic Program. By all accounts it is going to be a very impressive and capable ship.