Highlights
on board

High-tech research platform for the polar regions

Just like her world-famous predecessor, the Alfred Wegener Institute’s new, high-performance research icebreaker will operate year-round in the Arctic and Antarctic. This will allow the new Polarstern to gather data from those regions of our planet hardest-hit by climate change. The flagship of German polar and marine research will be a floating high-tech research platform, complete with multiple labs, onboard helicopters, heavy equipment and sediment-core drills. Using cutting-edge remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), she will explore habitats in the deep sea and below the ice never before seen by human eyes.

The moonpool allows vehicles and equipment to be safely deployed directly from the ship, even amid the densest sea ice.

Moonpool

Representation of functionality

From the ship to the deep sea

The new Polarstern’s working deck features an impressive innovation: a large moonpool extends throughout the ship below the water line. Like a spring, it offers direct access to the open water, even when the ship is surrounded by sea ice. A winch system is mounted above the pool, which can be used to lower equipment (e.g. ROVs, water / CTD samplers, or multicorers) into the water, where they can be deployed for various types of fieldwork. While the ship is in motion, the moonpool can be sealed both from above and below, making the working deck freely accessible – and ensuring no additional drag is created.

©ROV-Team GEOMAR

Beneath the surface

The new Polarstern will feature a host of cutting-edge robotic systems. This represents a new and different approach, as the majority of Germany’s research fleet offers expedition participants a basic palette of facilities like laboratories, or deep-sea winches for deploying equipment and vehicles. Yet this palette includes very few specialised devices, and almost never includes underwater robots like remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). In contrast, the new ship will be home to three such high-tech assets: a work class ROV, a hybrid ROV, and an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). These robotic systems can all be used to depths of up to 6,000 metres and were specially selected to cover a diverse range of future-oriented research tasks in ice-covered waters. Thanks to sonar, multiple cameras, and grippers, the robots can be used for scouting, seafloor mapping and sample collection alike. Technologies in the area of underwater robotics are evolving at breath-taking speed – which makes it all the more important for ships like the new Polarstern to keep pace.

Robotics in action:

Underwater robots and drones at work

Navigational support and essential tools for research fieldwork: Highly specialised drones for operating in the ice.

Up, up and away

The new Polarstern will feature a dedicated area for its fleet of drones, near the onboard helicopter. In addition to standard commercially available camera drones weighing a few hundred grams, massive special-purpose models tipping the scales at up to 250 kilograms are also planned.
These highly-specialized drones are equipped e.g. with laser scanners that can provide three-dimensional models of the ice surface, or specially designed cameras that offer insights into the ice’s properties. Beyond their scientific value, they can help the crew find the best and safest route through the ice. In addition, the fleet will tentatively include “heavy-lift drones.” Measuring up to three metres in diameter, they can gather samples from the air, ice or water. Deploying them boosts efficiency, as the need to transport researchers to the ice in order to gather samples is omitted. Depending on the given research focus, the drones can be flexibly fitted with a range of sensors, ensuring their fields of application and the corresponding research options can be steadily expanded.

Highlights on board in action