Polar Research and Supply Vessel POLARSTERN operated by the Alfred-Wegener-Institute

Abstract

POLARSTERN, operated by the Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, is an ice going research and supply vessel. The main operation areas are the ice-covered seas of the northern and southern polar regions. The ship provides ideal working conditions for almost all compartments of marine sciences, atmospheric and glaciological research. It can break ice up to 2m continuously and can operate up to 90 days at sea. POLARSTERN is therefore ideally suited for often long expeditions to remote Polar Regions. POLARSTERN regularly supplies the Antarctic research stations, especially the Neumayer Station III and the Kohnen Station (Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 2016a). In the last 30 years POLARSTERN was in average 310 days per year at sea, she is the major research tool of the German polar research programme.