MV Xue Long
Model of Xue Long
B1
1A Super
128
20,000 sm
IMO no. 8877899
The Xue Long (雪龙/雪龙, Xue Lóng, translated, sometimes called "Snow Dragon" also called Snow Dragon) is a Chinese research icebreaker. Home port is Shanghai.
The Xue Long is China's only icebreaker ship and, according newzeal.com the largest currently regularly circulating in Antarctica provider. On behalf of the Chinese Polar Research Institute ( PRIC ) which it manages polar research stations are supplied.
History
Construction, purchase and renovation
The ship, an Arctic supply vessel with ice class 1A Super, was built in 1993 by the shipyard Kherson Shipyard in Ukraine as the third ship of its class. The ship was purchased in 1994 by the People's Republic of China and for 31 million yuan (then ten million DM) rebuilt in China in a polar research vessel. Since 1994, the ship as a fifth polar research vessel and icebreaker first China as a replacement for the Jidi in use. After a modernization of the vessel 2007, it was overtaken in 2013 again. From 2014, the Xue Long will be supported by a second research icebreaker.
Inserts to 2013
In 1999, China launched the CHINARE XVI Expedtion (Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition ). Beginning of November 1999 began the Antarctic voyage of the Xue Long from Shanghai to Fremantle (Australia) to the Chinese Zhongshan Station in East Antarctica. From there, the ship sailed in December 1999 on Punta Arenas to the Great Wall Station in West Antarctica. Then, the trip went again in the East Antarctica to pick up Chinese scientists the summer expedition.
The ship appeared unexpectedly for the U.S. and Canada in 1999 in a Canadian port.
In November 2011, the ship of the port city of Tianjin launched from a five month expedition to the Antarctic.
Rescue attempt by the Akademik Shokalskiy
The Xue Long tried in December 2013, the trapped in the ice of Commonwealth Bay Akademik Shokalskiy, a Russian cruise ship with 74 people on board, to free themselves from the ice, but had on December 28th in only six and a half nautical miles from the Akademik Shokalskiy for safety cancel their rescue attempt, as the ice was too thick. After the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis also tried in vain to penetrate to Akademik Shokalskiy, a helicopter of the Xue Long, people began on January 2, 2014 on board the ship trapped fly out in groups on the Chinese icebreaker. The persons present on the Akademik Shokalskiy were eventually flown by helicopter to the Xue Long on the Aurora Australis to return with these to Australia. After the bailout, however, the Xue Long himself remained stuck in the ice, but he could rid on January 7, with start-up. The Russian ship was set free, because the wind had shifted and the ice, a gap was created. Two days before the icebreaker Polar Star was already the United States Coast Guard is broken down by the harbor in Sydney, to free the trapped ships.
Search for wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
After satellite images of 16 March 2014 of an area in the Indian Ocean 2500 km south-west of the Australian city of Perth, objects were identified that could potentially be wreckage of for several days lost machine of flight 370 of Malaysia Airlines, received the Xue Long the order to participate in the search for the aircraft.
Features and performance
The ship displaces 21,025 tons and 1.1 meters thick ice can break at the speed of 1.5 knots, with start-up they should have done 4m. A shipborne helicopter Kamov Ka - type 32A11BC, three boats and 128 berths are available. On board the ships up to 200 scientists can work. The ship has a range of 20,000 nautical miles.