''Nuyina'' is an icebreaking research and supply vessel intended to support Australian scientific activities and research bases in Antarctica. Capable of deploying a wide range of vehicles, including helicopters, landing barges and amphibious trucks to support the resupply operation, the new ship provides a modern platform for marine science research in both sea ice and open water with a large moon pool for launching and retrieving sampling equipment and remotely operated vehicles.

Design and construction

The original concept was developed by the Danish engineering company Knud E Hansen. Design and construction of the vessel was managed by the Dutch

Damen Group The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands. Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company. Dame ...

at their shipyard in Romania. Following a contractual agreement on 28 April 2016 with DMS Maritime, a subsidiary of

Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational military, defence, Healthcare, health, Space industry, space, private prison, justice, Human migration, migration, customer service, customer services, and transport company ...

, for delivery, operation and maintenance, the ship's design and construction was contracted to

.Australian Icebreaker Operated by DMS Maritime to be Constructed by Damen

media release, 2016-05-06 The design was contracted to

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

s Knud E Hansen of Denmark.Keel-Laying of Australia's new icebreaker laid
Knud E. Hansen media release, 2017-08-25 In August 2017,

keel laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a shipbuilding, ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel l ...

took place at Damen's Galați shipyard in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Coins from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and Australia were welded to the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

as part of the keel laying. By March 2018, about 7,000 tons out of 10,000 had been cut, and the base of the hull had been completed.Australia's Icebreaker Taking Shape
Maritime Executive, 17 March 2018. In September 2018, the hull was successfully floated in the building dock and taken to the outfitting quay. It was then towed to

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

in the Netherlands for fitting out. The vessel was handed over on 19 August 2021. In September it travelled from the Netherlands to Australia.

RSV ''Nuyina'''s Ship's Bell

The bell for the Bridge of RSV ''Nuyina'' was presented by the President of the ANARE Club at the ship’s official launch on 18 December 2021. It was manufactured in Maryborough, Queensland, by Olds Engineering, from AS1567 - C92610 commonly referred to as G1 or ‘Admiralty gunmetal’, 88% copper, 10% tin, 2% zinc, supplied by Hayes Metals of New Zealand & Australia. The bell was engraved in Bendigo, Victoria, by National Engraving. The bell’s lanyard was made by Dr Barbara Frankel from Tasmania. The whole project, from metal, manufacture, engraving and knotting, was donated by those involved, as a gift to the Australian Antarctic Division for RSV ''Nuyina''.

Naming

On 29 September 2017, the name ''Nuyina'' (pronounced "noy-yee-nah") was announced by the Minister for the Environment, Josh Frydenberg. The name is the word in the

palawa kani Palawa kani is a constructed language created by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre as a composite Tasmanian languages, Tasmanian language, based on reconstructed vocabulary from the limited accounts of the various languages once spoken by the Abo ...

language of

Aboriginal Tasmanians The Aboriginal Tasmanians (palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. At the time of European contact, Aboriginal Tasmanians were divided into a numb ...

for the southern lights.Boaty McBoatface: Australia sees the light on naming new icebreaker after southern aurora

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, 2017-09-29 The name was suggested by school students in a competition, and is jointly attributed to students from St Virgil's College,

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

and Secret Harbour Primary School,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. The name ''Nuyina'' evokes the names of previous ships involved in Australian Antarctic research and investigation: * ''Aurora Australis'' (1989–2020), Australia's previous icebreaking research and resupply vessel * SY ''Aurora'' (1876–1918), used by

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

for exploring the continent (1910–14) and

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

Service

''Nuyina'' began sea trials in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

on 23 November 2020. ''Nuyina'' entered Damen Schiedam dry-dock in February 2021 for an unspecified reason. It will be operated by

under the direction of the

Australian Antarctic Division The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is a division of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water. The division undertakes science programs and research projects to contribute to an understanding of Antarctica and the S ...

for the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

. It will support science operations in the

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

, as well as resupplying the Australian Antarctic Division stations: Casey, Davis, Mawson and

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island in the south-western Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. It has been governed as a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1880. It became a Protected areas of Tasmania, Tasmania ...

. Due to mechanical problems in the propulsion line, ''Nuyina'' was repaired in Singapore under warranty, unable to be used during the 2022-23 Antarctic season. It resumed service in May 2023. In 2023, it was reported that ''Nuyina'' would have to sail to

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

on the other side of Tasmania, some away by sea, for refuelling before heading out to Antarctica. The ship's permission to pass under the

Tasman Bridge The Tasman Bridge is a prestressed concrete girder bridge connecting the Tasman Highway over the River Derwent (Tasmania), River Derwent in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. When it opened on 29 March 1965, the Tasman was the longest prestressed con ...

to reach the refuelling station at Selfs Point, about from its home berth in Hobart, was revoked due to safety concerns: due to its icebreaking hull form demonstrating excessive side slip during simulations and sea trials, ''Nuyina'' was found to have insufficient

directional stability Directional stability is the tendency of a vehicle or moving body to keep its orientation aligned with its direction of movement. When a car or an airplane gets turned a little relative to its direction of motion, it might correct itself, over-co ...

to safely complete the turn required before passing between the bridge pylons when sailing out. While the ship's protruding bridge wings were extended by during construction to improve visibility near the ship's sides, this did not have an impact on the decision on the ruling. In late August 2023, the ''Nuyina'' sailed from Tasmania towards Australia's

Casey Station Casey Station, commonly called Casey, is one of three permanent stations and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Casey lies on the northern side of the Bailey Peninsula (Antarctica), Bailey Peninsu ...

research base on the Bailey Peninsula in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. Two helicopters from the ''Nuyina'' rescued a member of the team at the base who was suffering a medical emergency that required evacuation.

Science capabilities

Scientific Data from RSV Nuyina

Data from Nuyina can be accessed through https://data.aad.gov.au/.

Fixed laboratories

* Air chemistry space *Dry labs x 2 *

Meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

lab *Wet labs x 2 *Wet well

Containerised laboratories

*15 serviced lab module slots (services equiv to fixed wet labs) *9 serviced support module slots

Science spaces

*Aft control room *Aft Deck ~ 500m2 *Battery charging rooms x 2 *Crows nest * CTD hangar *Electronics laboratory *Foremast *Gas bottles storage lockers x 4 *Hazardous material store *Laboratory store *Observation huts *Sea ice refueling area *Sea ice staging area *Sea ice staging drying room *Science cool and cold stores *Science frozen store lobby *Science meeting room *Science Offices *Science Operations Room *Science winch room

Scientific Deployment Systems

*A frame 30t static with 10t and 5t winches *Air sampling pipes in foremast x 2 *CTD hangar overhead crane *CTD winches fibre optic x 2 (EOM) *Deep core handling system *Deep sea coring winch *Deep sea towing winch fibre optic (EOM) *Drop keels x 2 *Forward outboard deployment system *General purpose CTD hangar winch *General purpose winch * Moonpool and cursor frame *Multi-purpose overhead crane 10t *Sea ice ramp *Side outboard deployment system (SODS) *Towed body winch fibre optic (EOM) *Trawl winches x 2 *Tugger winches x 2 *Twin net drum

Scientific data collection systems

Scientific Data Management System (SDMS)

* KVM matrix switching *Scientific racks

Acoustic

* Acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) in drop keel *ADCP in hull * Broadband echo sounders in hull (38, 50, 70, 120 & 200kHz) *Broadband echo sounders in drop keel (18, 38, 70, 120 & 200kHz) *Bubble monitoring cameras and noise monitoring hydrophones for Silent R and acoustic systems *Deep multi beam echo sounder system in hull *High resolution multi beam bathymetric echo sounder (MBES) system in drop keel *

Hydrophone A hydrophone () is a microphone designed for underwater use, for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones contains a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potential when subjected to a pressure change, such as a ...

s for acoustic releases in hull *Hydrophones for mammalian observations in drop keel *Net monitoring transducers in drop keels *Retractable high frequency Omni fisheries sonar * Side looking multi beam in drop keel * Sub bottom profiler in hull * Sound velocity probes in the hull and drop keel * USBL (ultra-short baseline system) in hull

Atmospheric

* Accumulated rain sensor * Air pressure monitor *Air temperature sensors (port, starboard and foremast) *Automated total sky imager * Ceilometer cloud height sensor * Ice and wave radar * Long wave infrared radiation sensors (port and starboard) * Photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) sensors (port and starboard) *

Relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

(port and starboard) * Sea surface skin temperature *Solar (short wave) radiation sensors (port and starboard) *UV biometer (port and starboard) *UV radiation sensors (port and starboard) * Wind speed and direction sensors (port, starboard and foremast) *

X-band The X band is the designation for a band of frequency, frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is set at approximately 7.0� ...

weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...

Seawater

* Acidity (pH) * Conductivity, temperature and salinity (thermosalinograph) *CO₂ concentrations in seawater and air *Fast rate repetition fluorometer (FRRF) with flow through chamber * Laser optical particle counter *Optical dissolved O₂ sensor *Seawater inlet temperature *System pressure

Science equipment

*-86 °C ultra low freezers x 2 *-135 °C ultra low freezer *C-channel (science spaces and aft science deck) *Chemical storage freezer x 4 *Chemical storage fridge x 4 *Compressed instrument air (pure) in labs *CUFES (continuous underway fish egg sampler) *Deck inserts (science spaces and aft science deck) *Display computers *Flammable and corrosive chemical storage cabinets (vented ) x 11 *Fumes cupboards x 5 *Liquid nitrogen bulk storage and dispenser units (200L) x 2 *Reagent grade water in labs *Science container interface *Trace metal free seawater in labs * Ultra pure (Milli Q) water x 2 *Vacuum waste system in labs

Science tender

*A frame *

Moon pool A moon pool is an equipment deployment and retrieval feature used by oil platforms, marine drilling platforms, drillships, diving support vessels, fishing vessels, oceanography, marine research and underwater exploration or research vessels, and ...

* Multi beam echo sounder *Science winch *Sub bottom profiler *Sound velocity profiler

References

External links

Damen specification brochureKnud E. Hansen design details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuyina Icebreakers of Australia Australia and the Antarctic Research vessels of Australia Ships built in Romania 2018 ships Ships built by Damen Shipyards Galați