Aurora Borealis (icebreaker)

P1

90 days

120

Aurora Borealis ( northern lights dt ) is the name of since 2002 being planned European icebreaking Forschungsbohrschiffes (→ research vessel, icebreaker, a scientific drilling ). The ship, which is being developed under the auspices of the Helmholtz Centre Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research is intended for use in the Arctic Ocean, especially in its central area, in the summer for deepwater drilling and in winter for the general polar research, neither of which is possible so far. The realization of the project is complex, however, no later than the distancing of the German Science Council in 2010, which now wants to achieve the goals by other means, become unlikely.

Concept

The aim of the project is to develop two previously inaccessible areas of research:

• The study of sedimentary layers at the bottom of the Arctic provides information on the climate history of the region, which is of particular importance for the modeling of climate change. In the region an ongoing contribution to the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program would rendered.
• The year-round production of data that were previously virtually only available for the summer half of the year, promises breakthroughs in knowledge of meteorology, biology, ecology, oceanography, physics and chemistry of the Arctic Ocean. Here are the results for climate research to be expected since the polar regions are particularly early and sensitive to climate change and thereby also reinforcing mechanisms (eg, changes in albedo and the thermohaline circulation ) to take effect.

To achieve these goals, the ship should, in principle, the abilities of the heavy Russian icebreaker Arktika the class of the U.S. Tiefseebohrschiffes used in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program JOIDES unite and expand the resolution and the German polar research vessel Polarstern.

Technology

The ship is designed as a heavy icebreaker that may invest up to 2.5 meters thick at a speed of 2 to 3 knots break multi-year ice. The required high power is applied with three driven each with 27 megawatts propellers. Behind the propeller means the spade rudder is located (according to ice class with Eissporn at the rudder head box ). The special design on the sides of the hull in combination with the powerful retractable thrusters at the bow and stern, the ship can break laterally zoom drifting ice. Such a powerful dynamic positioning system is needed to keep the ship during drilling unaided against drifting ice that changes direction with the wind speed to the position.

For the geological research, the ship should be equipped with a derrick, which helps in a water depth of up to 5,000 meters into the seabed are deep wells of up to 1,000 meters possible. The drill string is this in the middle of the ship, drained by a so-called moon pool, an opening in the hull. About a swell compensators seegangsbedingte movements can be axially offset to the drill string.

About a second moon pool, the use of autonomous ( AUV ) and remotely operated (ROV ) underwater vehicles is possible. It's hangar and deck space for three helicopters available. In addition to several built- labs other laboratory containers can be verlastet.

Deployment strategy

The deepwater drilling with the ship are planned only in the summer months ( June-September), with the unfavorable ice conditions in winter the performance of dynamic positioning would no longer be sufficient. In the remaining time atmospheric observations and studies of ocean currents and the Arctic ecosystem are to be performed. A month of the year is scheduled for maintenance, modernizations and retrofits. The total duration should be 35 to 40 years, with an extensive overhaul in the middle of this period. Episode of the all-year at the North Pole is that the average icebreaker Polarstern is released for its remaining useful life for the also all-year research in Antarctica. This additional scientifically usable time is again recovered and costs can be saved by the elimination of transfers between the poles, particularly in a targeted transfer of the base port to South Africa.

Costs

The integration of all functions in a ship should also lead to cost savings compared to alternative possible use of an escorted by several icebreakers ice-strengthened polar research Tiefseebohrschiffes and a ship. Thus, for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program in the late summer of 2004 in the Arctic won once at enormous expense 339 meters of drill core from three wells only 1200 meters depth from the Lomonosov Ridge, which already brought significant new insights. However, the cost of this six-week Arctic Coring Expedition ACEX amounted to ten million euros ( use of three icebreakers various sizes, Sovetskiy Soyuz and Oden for the crushing of the drifting at 0.5 knots 2-4 meter thick ice before drilling Vidar Viking, and two Eisbeobachtungs and Versetzhubschrauber ). The construction costs of the Aurora Borealis is estimated at 650-850 million euros, the annual operating costs of 36 million euros. Due to the anticipated high financial burden the ship from the start was planned as a European Community project.

Project history

Concrete plans for 2001 suffered by the Alfred Wegener Institute concept began in 2002. Response to such calls concluded in 2004 by the Hamburg Ship Research Institute technical feasibility study of the Science Council surveyed 2005/ 06 the project, which, at that time at a cost of 355 and annual operating costs of 17 5 million euros was estimated. He recommended its continuation and the immediate provision of requested 6 million euros for other necessary engineering work. At the same time, he noted that this research infrastructure is only useful in the European context and a corresponding integration of the project should be pursued. The Federal Ministry for Research and Technology funded then from March 2007 to January 2009, the related work. Fifteen institutional partners from ten European countries, including the neighboring Arctic Norway and the Russian Federation joined to at the European Science Foundation settled European Research Icebreaker Consortium ERICON together, that for the period March 2008 to February 2012 by the European Commission with 4.5 million euros is promoted and edited the strategic, organizational, financial and legal issues of the project. Construction was planned for 2012, two years later, the ship should be put into service.

On 12 November 2010 recommended that the Scientific Council, instead of the Aurora Borealis a serious research icebreaker with Moon Pool, but without drilling device for estimated 450 million euros to build with German funding to further develop the existing seabed drilling rigs for drilling depth up to 200 meters and the service time of the Polarstern possible to extend with European funding so that three to five years, a simultaneous use of north and south poles is possible. One reason for this was doubled compared to 2004 cost estimate of December 2008 ( € 650-850 million construction, 36 million € mode) and still no Community financing. Added to this was the realization that the main geological evidence for climate research are already winning with 200 -meter holes, and technical developments in seabed drill rigs that can be deducted from ships. With the Stena Drillmax Ice is currently under construction ( 1.15 billion U.S. dollars ) is also a eisverstärktes Tiefseebohrschiff come on the market that could be chartered for occasional deeper holes with icebreaker assistance.