Chile presents the largest icebreaker in South America

Last week, Chile presented the first and largest icebreaker to be built in Latin America. Christened the Almirante Viel, the Chilean Navy’s new ship is designed for scientific research and will be used mainly in the Antarctic to investigate the effects of the climate crisis in the southern hemisphere.

The 10,500-ton vessel, capable of breaking one meter of ice at a speed of three knots (3.3 km/h), is equipped to meet the needs of more than 30 scientists carrying out oceanography and hydrography research, as well as investigations into marine biomass and fauna. Its launch at the industrial plant of the Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada (ASMAR), in Talcahuano, 300 miles south of Santiago, marked the end of the first stage of the megaproject, after five years in construction. It is scheduled to start port trials in December 2023 and commissioning in August 2024.

Marine biologist and doctor in ecology Pamela Santibáñez, a high-profile researcher in Antarctic science, explains that the ship will be able to reach locations far further south than Chile’s previous icebreaker. “The vessel has laboratories to process and store samples, and they will be easy to obtain,” says Santibáñez, who was in charge of christening the ship with a bottle of champagne broken on the hull. Besides having the capacity to transport its future crew, more than 30 specialists will also be able to carry out scientific activities in the ship’s microbiology and chemistry laboratories, which have a multibeam echosounder system to explore the seabed at high and medium depths.

Chile’s previous icebreaker, also called Almirante Viel, has been declared technically and logistically obsolete; it allowed scientists to be transported, but not to operate on board, with expeditions only possible in the summer. In contrast, the new ship can withstand temperatures of -30º C (-22ºF). “We will be able to gather data on what happens in the winter, a much colder and darker season,” says Santibáñez. “It is Chile’s first real icebreaker,” she adds of the ship, whose construction required 800 people at a cost of $210 million. Antarctic scientific icebreakers can also be found in Brazil, the US, Spain, Germany and Korea.

Chile’s proximity to Antarctica makes it the main gateway for scientists seeking to explore activity at the southernmost tip of the world. There are 23 international programs that enter from Punta Arenas, 1,800 kilometers south of Santiago, while around six enter from New Zealand and South Africa. Speaking at the launch, the Commander-in-Chief of Chile’s Navy, Juan Andrés de la Maza, said: “It is a ship for the national and international scientific community that will carry out scientific research on the White Continent, where we have had sovereignty for almost 100 years.”

The climatic emergency that the planet is facing makes examining Antarctica essential as it directly influences three aspects of the climate: the sea level, the thermohaline circulation, which is related to oceanic circulation on a large scale, and the albedo effect, which is the ability of the earth’s surface to reflect sunlight. The new icebreaker will allow continuous and increased monitoring and complement oceanographic information already being gleaned on what is happening in Antarctica.

The most complex vessel ever to be built in Chile, the icebreaker will have the capacity to store the ice from the depths, but not to process it. That task will be carried out at the future International Antarctic Center (CAI), in Punta Arenas, an initiative launched by the Regional Government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, that will begin construction in February or March 2023, to be ready in three years. The CAI will occupy a 34,000-square-meter site in an area connected to the ports, the city center and the airport, and will be divided into three main functional areas: scientific, logistical and museographic.

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