RV Polarstern

RV Polarstern (meaning <a href="/facts/Pole_star/FYeWDQ6p">pole star</a>) is a German research <a href="/facts/Icebreaker/jMGLK96X">icebreaker</a> of the <a href="/facts/Alfred_Wegener_Institute_for_Polar_and_Marine_Research/qXdhbwyt">Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research</a> (AWI) in <a href="/facts/Bremerhaven/oWEkkt3D">Bremerhaven</a>, <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a>. Polarstern was built by <a href="/facts/Howaldtswerke-Deutsche_Werft/J7F0JYxL">Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft</a> in <a href="/facts/Kiel/d08pBvnm">Kiel</a> and <a href="/facts/Nobiskrug/G2pGs87X">Nobiskrug</a> in <a href="/facts/Rendsburg/yW8y3crM">Rendsburg</a>, was commissioned in 1982, and is mainly used for research in the <a href="/facts/Arctic/bxbuUz7Q">Arctic</a> and <a href="/facts/Antarctica/bEM5Lem5">Antarctica</a>. The ship has a length of 118 metres (387 feet) and is a <a href="/facts/Double_hull/zn1r61ud">double-hulled</a> icebreaker. She is operational at temperatures as low as −50 °C (−58 °F). Polarstern can break through ice 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) thick at a speed of 5 <a href="/facts/Knot_(unit)/Sho0TF2y">knots</a> (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). Thicker ice of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) can be broken by ramming.

RV Polarstern open-in-new

RV Polarstern