Research ice breaker Polarstern

Research and Logistics

Scientific coordinator: Dr. Ingo Schewe

News

News from aboard will be available in the Polarstern app. Below you can download the reports additionally as weekly reports.
   
PS 144 | 01 -07 October 2024
PS 144 | 08 - 11 October 2024
PS 144 | 13 October 2024

The German research vessel Polarstern during an ice station in the Weddell Sea.

Link Polarstern App

Where is polarstern?

Figures and facts
Port of registryBremerhaven
Length118 metres
Width25 metres
Max. draught11.20 metres
Max. displacement17,277 tons
Empty weight12,012 tons
Commissioning AWI1982
Engine4 x KHD RBV 8M540
Engine power19,198 PS (four engines)
Range19,000 nautical miles /
80 days
Max. speed16 knots
Operation areaEverywhere including pack ice zone
Crew44
Days on sea per yearon average approx. 305
ShipyardNobiskrug, Rendsburg and Howaldtswerke - Deutsche Werft Kiel AG, Germany
Scientists per day / long term sailingnone / 53

 

News

Comprehensive assessment of the changing Central Arctic Ocean

Comprehensive assessment of the changing Central Arctic Ocean

Sparse sea ice, thousands of datapoints and samples, a surprising number of animals and hydrothermal vents – those are the impressions and outcomes that an international research team is now bringing back from a Polarstern expedition to the Central Arctic. After a four-month-long Arctic season, the Alfred Wegener Institute’s research icebreaker is expected to arrive back in Bremerhaven with the morning high tide on Sunday. 
Photosynthesis in near darkness

Photosynthesis in near darkness

Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels. This is the result of an international study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end of the polar night. The measurements were carried out as part of the MOSAiC expedition at 88° northern latitude and revealed that even this far north, microalgae can build up biomass through photosynthesis as early as the end of March. At this time, the sun is barely above the horizon, so that it is still almost completely dark in the microalgae's habitat under the snow and ice cover of the Arctic Ocean. The results of the study now published in the

How is the dramatic decline in sea ice affecting biodiversity?

How is the dramatic decline in sea ice affecting biodiversity?

The depths of the Weddell Sea are home to diverse biotic communities consisting of sponges, cold water corals, and countless other organisms. Moreover, as climate change progresses, this ice-ladden region could offer a refuge for ice-dependent algae and fauna, from krill to Weddell seals. In the new EU project WOBEC, the Alfred Wegener Institute, as the coordinator of a consortium of eleven institutions from Europe and the US, will establish the basis for systematic, long-term observations of potential changes in this unique ecosystem. The project, which has been allocated ca. 1.9 million euros of funding, will develop a strategy for



FS Polarstern on tour