Far from Home

Yesterday evening, I came on board of the Retriever in Den Helder. In front of us was a vessel moored which is an offshore summer (survey work) guest in the North Sea. In southern summer her role is quite different. It is the RRS Ernest Shackleton. RRS stands for Royal Research Ship and she was built by Kverner Klevin Leirvik A/S, Norway as the MV Polar Queen for the Rieber Shipping of Bergen in 1995. She was deployed in the Antarctic by other national programmes before being aquired by The British Antarctic Survey in August 1999. The vessel was renamed RRS Ernest Shackleton after Sir Ernest Shackleton, the famed Polar Explorer.

The vessel is ice strengthened and capable of a wide range of logistic tasks as well as having a scientific capability. She has a cargo tender "Tula" on deck for ship to shore transfer of equipment for those occasions when the ship cannot berth alongside.

Want to have a virtual tour on this ship? click on this Link