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icebreakerAn icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to icebreaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most normal...
s, ships designed to operate in ice-covered waters.
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
Argentine NavyThe Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Argentine Armed Forces, together with the Army and the Air Force....
- ARA Almirante Irízar (Q-5)
The ARA Almirante Irízar is a large icebreaker of the Argentine Navy currently out of service due a 2007 incident. - Background :...
- ARA General San Martín (Q-4)
Canadian Coast GuardThe Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada.It is the civilian federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking....
Heavy Icebreaker
- CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent, the vessel is classed a "Heavy Arctic Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG. It carries a polar class of PC-1.Built in 1969 by Canadian...
- CCGS Terry Fox
CCGS Terry Fox is a Canadian Coast Guard Heavy Gulf icebreaker.Named after the late cancer research activist Terry Fox, the vessel was built in 1983 as MV Terry Fox by Burrard Yarrows Corporation in Vancouver, British Columbia. MV Terry Fox, along with her sister ship MV Arctic Kalvik supported...
- CCGS John A. Macdonald
CCGS John A. Macdonald was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.She was commissioned into the Department of Transport's Marine Service in 1960 using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship"...
(Decommissioned 1991 and scrapped 1994)
- CCGS D'Iberville
CCGS D'Iberville was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.Commissioned as the CGS D'Iberville for the Department of Transport's Marine Service, using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship", the D'Iberville was transferred into the newly-created Canadian Coast Guard in 1962.She saw service in the St....
(Decommissioned and scrapped)
- CCGS N.B. McLean
CCGS N.B. McLean was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.Constructed in 1930 at Halifax Shipyards, she was commissioned as CGS N.B. MacLean and served in the Department of Transport's Marine Service, using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship". She was transferred into the newly-created Canadian...
(Decommissioned and scrapped)
Icebreaker
- CCGS Alexander Henry
CCGS Alexander Henry is a former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.She is currently a museum ship preserved at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario. During the summer months it is also operated as a bed and breakfast....
(Decommissioned)
- CCGS Amundsen
CCGS Amundsen is an Arctic icebreaker and research vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.-CCGS Sir John Franklin:The vessel was built at Burrard Dry Dock, North Vancouver and commissioned into the Canadian Coast Guard as CCGS Sir John Franklin in 1979, in honour of Arctic explorer Sir John...
(ex. CCGS Sir John Franklin)
- CCGS Des Groseilliers
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Des Groseilliers is an icebreaker in the Canadian Coast Guard.The vessel is named after Medard Chouart Des Groseilliers a close associate of Pierre-Esprit Radisson in explorations west of the Great Lakes and the founding of the English Hudson's Bay Company.The vessel...
- CCGS Henry Larsen
CCGS Henry Larsen is a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker based in St John's, Newfoundland.A "Medium Gulf/River icebreaker", the vessel is named after Henry Larsen, the commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police patrol vessel St...
- CCGS Labrador
CCGS Labrador was a Wind-class icebreaker. First commissioned on July 8 1954 as HMCS Labrador under the auspices of the Royal Canadian Navy, she was transferred to the Department of Transport on November 22 1957...
(Decommissioned)
- CCGS Pierre Radisson
The CCGC Pierre Radisson is an icebreaker of the Canadian Coast Guard.She is designated as a "Medium Gulf Icebreaker. Her winter home port is Quebec City at the mouth of the St Lawrence River in the Gulf of St...
- CCGS Sir John Franklin (now CCGS Amundsen)
- CCGS Ernest Lapointe (Decommissioned, now museum ship)
- CGS Mikula (Decommissioned)
- CGS Northern Light (Decommissioned)
- CCGS Saurel (Decommissioned)
- Robert Lemeur (Decommissioned)
Light Icebreaker
- CCGS Samuel Risley
The CCGS Samuel Risley is a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker and buoy tender.Named after the 19th century maritime inspector, she is a light icebreaker with a capability to break ice up to two feet thick....
- CCGS Ann Harvey
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Ann Harvey was constructed in the year 1987 by Halifax Dartmouth Industries, in Halifax Nova Scotia.The vessel was named after the daughter of a local Newfoundland fisherman from Isle aux Morts on Newfoundland's southwest coast...
(St. John's, NL)
- CCGS Edward Cornwallis (Dartmouth, NS)
- CCGS George R. Pearkes
The CCGS George R. Pearkes is an icebreaker and buoy support vessel in the Canadian Coast Guard.She was built in 1986....
- CCGS Griffon
- CCGS J.E. Bernier (Decommissioned)
- CCGS Martha L. Black (St. John's, NL)
- CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier
The CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier is a light icebreaker and Major Navaids Tender of the Canadian Coast Guard. Built in 1986 by Canadian Shipbuilding, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada the ship currently is based out of Victoria, British Columbia....
- CCGS Sir William Alexander
CCGS Sir William Alexander is a Canadian Coast Guard Ship and is classed a "Light Icebreaker - Major Navaids Tender". She is currently assigned to CCG Maritimes Region and is homeported at CCG Base Dartmouth, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia....
(Dartmouth)
- CCGS Earl Grey
The CCGS Earl Grey is a vessel in the Canadian Coast Guard.She serves a variety of roles, including light ice-breaking and buoy tending.She was built in 1986 in Pictou, Nova Scotia....
(Charlottetown, PEI)
- CCGS Bartlett
CCGS Bartlett is a Marine Service Vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.CCGS Bartlett was built in 1969 at Marine Industries, Sorel. She was modernized in 1988 at Halifax Shipyards, Halifax which saw new propulsion and navigation equipment installed.She is classed as a Marine Service Vessel...
(Decommissioned)
- CCGS Provo Wallis
- CCGS Simcoe
The CCGS Simcoe, built in 1962, was the oldest operational vessel in the Canadian Coast Guard and the last ship of the original official Coast Guard fleet, created in 1962.An earlier vessel named Simcoe was launched in 1909....
(Built 1962)
- CCGS Tracy
- CCGS Cygnus
The CCGS Cygnus is a high endurance all weather, offshore ice strengthened multi patrol vessel of the Canadian Coast Guard. It was built in 1982 and underwent a modernization in 1996. CCGS Cygnus has a hangar and flight deck capable of operating a Eurocopter BO-105 helicopter....
- CCGS Leonard J. Cowley
The CCGS Leonard J. Cowley is a high endurance all weather, offshore ice strengthened multi patrol vessel of the Canadian Coast Guard. It was built in 1984 and underwent a modernization in 1996. CCGS Leonard J...
- CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell
CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell is a Canadian Coast Guard vessel based in St. John's, Newfoundland.An Offshore Ice Strength Multi Patrol Vessel, the vessel, is named after the medical missionary in Labrador, Sir Wilfred Grenfell....
Marine AtlanticMarine Atlantic Inc. is an independent Canadian Crown corporation offering ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.Marine Atlantic's corporate headquarters are in St...
- MV Caribou
The MV Caribou is a Marine Atlantic passenger/vehicle ferry which operates between the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada....
(Gulfspan ferry)
- MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood
MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood is a Marine Atlantic passenger/vehicle ferry which operates between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada. Named after former Newfoundland and Labrador politician Joseph R...
(Gulfspan ferry)
- MV Leif Ericson
The MV Leif Ericson is a Canadian ice breaking passenger-vehicle ferry operated by Marine Atlantic.-Stena:The vessel was built in Fosen, Norway in 1991 as the MS Stena Challenger for Stena Line...
Other
- Arctic Kalvik
- MV Polar Star
- William Lyon Mackenzie (fireboat)
William Lyon Mackenzie # 334, named for Toronto's first mayor William Lyon Mackenzie, is a fireboat for the Toronto Fire Services. It was built in 1964 to provide marine fire fighting as well as ice breaking capabilities...
- Toronto Fire ServicesThe Toronto Fire Services is part of the Emergency Services that respond to 911 calls in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The Toronto Fire Services is responsible for responding to fires, rescue and assisting with medical situations within the City of Toronto...
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
- HDMS Gunnar Thorson
The HDMS Gunnar Thorson is a Danish environmental protection vessel built for environmental protection and preservation purposes in 1980-1981. Originally operated by the Danish Ministry of Environmental Protection The HDMS Gunnar Thorson is a Danish environmental protection vessel built for...
- Icebraker A551 Danbjørn
- Icebraker A552 Isbjørn
- Icebraker A553 Thorbjørn
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
- Suur Tõll Steamer-icebreaker, Built in 1914 in Stettin (Szczecin) by Vulkan-Werke A. G.
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
Finnish Maritime Administration
- MS Fennica
The MS Fennica and her sistership the MS Nordica are Finnish icebreakers. They are multi purpose vessels, intended to operate in the offshore industry outside ice season....
- MS Nordica
- MS Botnica
- MS Kontio
- MS Otso
- MS Urho
- MS Sisu
- MS Voima
Commercial
- MV Sampo
- MT Tempera
The MT Tempera is an ocean-going icebreaking tanker that was finished in 2002.Using Azipod technology, the MT Tempera and its sister ship the MT Mastera are known as double acting tankers. Azipods or Azimuthing Podded Propulsors have an electrically driven propeller mounted on a steerable pod...
and MT MasteraThe MT Mastera and its sister ship the MT Tempera are icebreakers known as double acting tankers. They use Azipod azimuth thruster technology. The MT Mastera was finished in 2002....
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
- Polarstern
RV Polarstern is a German research icebreaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven. The Polarstern was commissioned in 1982 and is mainly used for research in the Arctic and Antarctica....
- Stettin
Stettin is a steam icebreaker built by the shipyard Stettiner Oderwerke in 1933. She was ordered by the Chamber of Commerce of Stettin . The economy of the city of Stettin strongly depended on the free access of ships to and from the Baltic Sea...
- Eisvogel class icebreaker
The Type 721 Eisvogel class icebreakers is a two ship class built for the German Navy by the Hitzler Werft shipyard of Lauenburg/Elbe. One of the icebreakers is still in service.-List of Ships:...
- German NavyThe German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
Japan Maritime Self-Defense ForceThe , or JMSDF, is the maritime branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II. It has a large fleet with significant blue-water operating capabilities. The force is based...
- Shirase
Shirase is a large Japanese icebreaker operated by the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force. Her hull number is AGB-5002. The ship name is commonly mistaken to be named after Shirase Nobu, a pioneer Japanese arctic explorer, but due to the rule stating that ships of Japan Maritime Self Defence Force...
- Soya
The ' is a Japanese museum ship that previously served as an icebreaker and patrol boat, and was the first Japanese ship to take part in an Antarctic research expedition.-Construction:...
- Fuji
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
Nuclear poweredA nuclear powered icebreaker is a purpose-built ship for use in waters continuously covered with ice. Icebreakers are ships capable of cruising on ice-covered water by breaking through the ice with their strong, heavy, steel bows...
- Ocean Icebreakers
- NS Lenin (decomissioned, museum ship)
- NS Arktika
The NS Arktika is a nuclear powered icebreaker of the Soviet Arktika class. In service since 1975, she was the first surface ship to reach the North Pole, on August 17, 1977....
(inactive, awaiting refit or scrapping)
- NS Sibir (inactive, awaiting refit or scrapping)
- NS Rossiya (Russia)
- NS Sovjetskij Sojuz (Soviet Union)
- NS Yamal
The NS Yamal is a Russian Arktika class nuclear powered icebreaker operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company. It is named after the Yamal Peninsula in Northwest Siberia; the name means End of the Land in the Nenets language....
- NS 50 Let Pobedy
NS 50 Years Since Victory or 50 Years Anniversary of Victory is a Russian Arktika class nuclear powered icebreaker, the largest in the world as of 2007....
(50 Years Since Victory), formerly the Ural
- River Icebreakers
- NS Taimyr
Taymyr is a shallow-draft nuclear powered icebreaker, and the first of four similar vessels. She was built in 1989 for the Soviet Union in Helsinki, at the Finnish shipyard Wärtsilä, by order of the Murmansk Shipping Co.The Taymyr was delivered to Russia for the installation of the reactor system...
- NS Vaigach
The Vaygach is a shallow-draft nuclear powered icebreaker. She was built in 1989 for the Soviet Union in Helsinki, at the Finnish shipyard Wärtsilä, by order of the Murmansk Shipping Co....
Non-nuclear
- Dikson
- Kapitan Dranitsyn
The Kapitan Dranitsyn is a Russian icebreaker, built in Finland for the former Soviet Union. Since October 1995 she has been used as a research vessel by AARI. She also offers excursions in the Arctic Ocean north of Russia.-Layout:...
- Vladimir Ignatyuk
Icebreaker Vladimir Ignatyuk was built in 1982 at the Victoria Yard of the Burrard Yarrows Corporation located in Victoria ,British Columbia, Canada for Beaudril for use in Anchor Handling and Icebreaking in the Beaufort Sea .The Kalvik is the sister ship to the CCGS Terry Fox built by Burrard...
- Kapitan Khlebnikov
The Kapitan Khlebnikov is a Russian icebreaker. The vessel now operates as a cruise ship offering excursions to the Arctic and Antarctic.-History:...
- Krasin
The Krasin is a Russian icebreaker. The vessel operates in polar regions.-History:The ship was built at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland in 1976.-Design:...
- Saint Alexander Nevsky
- Talagi(ex-Canmar Kigoriak of Canada)
- Yermak
Yermak was a Russian and Soviet icebreaker, often referred to as the world's first true icebreaker, with a strengthened hull shaped to ride over and crush pack ice....
- Magadan
The Icebreaker Magadan is a large modern Russian icebreaker.She was completed in 1982and is the smallest of Fesco Transport Group's fleet of five icebreakers.-Specifications:-Service:*2006: chartered by a joint expedition to survey Walrus abundance....
- Sakhalin
The Icebreaker Sakhalin is a large modern Russian icebreaker built for the Far Eastern Shipping Company Transport Group .The Sakhalin was launched in 2005, and is both steered and propelled by azipods -- which can be rotated to direct their thrust in any direction.The Sakhalin is designed with a...
- Akademik Fyodorov
The R/V Akademik Fyodorov is a Russian scientific diesel-electric research vessel, the flagship of the Russian polar research fleet. It was built in Rauma, Finland for the Soviet Union and completed on September 8 1987. It started operations on October 24 1987 in the USSR....
- Ivan Susanin class icebreaker
The Ivan Susanin class are a group of icebreaker Patrol ships operated by the Russian maritime border guard. The Soviet designation is Project 97P. The ships are also known as the Aysberg class patrol ice breakers.-Design:...
- armed patrol vessels operated by the Russian Maritime Border Guard
Swedish Maritime AdministrationThe Swedish Maritime Administration is a Swedish government agency which provides services to the transport sector by keeping the sea lanes open and safe...
- Atle I (formerly known as Statsisbrytaren)
- Ymer I
- Thule
- Oden I
- Tor
- Njord
- Ale
- Atle II
The Atle was the first to be delivered from the Wärtsilä Shipyard. After sea trials in mid-1974 she was delivered on 21 October. She was then crewed by personnel from the Swedish Navy and on 24 October she set sail for Stockholm.- References :...
- Frej
The Frej is the third , named after the Norse god Freyr. She was launched during late in 1974, and on 30 September 1975 she was delivered to the Swedish Navy and departed the shipyard bound for Stockholm.- References :* Staffan Fischerström, Isbrytare...
- Ymer II
The Ymer is the fifth and last icebreaker in the . She was launched in late 1976, and on 25 October 1977 she was delivered to the Swedish Navy and departed the Aker Finnyards bound for Stockholm, where she arrived on 3 November.- References :...
- Oden II
The Oden is a large Swedish icebreaker, built in 1988 for the Swedish Maritime Administration. It is named after the Norse god Odin. First built to clear a passage through the ice of the Baltic sea for cargo ships, it was later modified to serve as a research vessel...
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
- HMS Endurance
HMS Endurance is the Royal Navy's Antarctic ice patrol ship. She is a class 1A1 icebreaker, with pennant number A171.-History:HMS Endurance was built over a period in Norway in 1990 by Ulstein Hatlo for Rieber Shipping as MV Polar Circle. The Navy chartered her for eight months as HMS Polar Circle...
- RRS Ernest Shackleton
RRS Ernest Shackleton is a Royal Research Ship operated by the British Antarctic Survey. She is primarily a logistics ship used for the resupply of scientific stations in the Antarctic.-History:...
- RRS James Clark Ross
The RRS James Clark Ross is a British Antarctic Survey supply and research ship, named after the English explorer James Clark Ross. She replaced the RRS John Biscoe in 1991.-See also:...
National Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
- Laurence M. Gould
The Research Vessel Laurence M. Gould is an icebreaker used by researchers from the United States' National Science Foundation.The vessel is named after Laurence McKinley Gould a widely recognized American scientist, who had explored both the Arctic and Antarctic. He was second in command of...
- Nathaniel B. Palmer
The Nathaniel B. Palmer is an ice-capable research ship in the service of the U.S. National Science Foundation. It is tasked with extended scientific missions in the Antarctic....
Heavy Icebreaker
- USCGC Healy (WAGB-20)
USCGC Healy is a research icebreaker put into commission in 1999 by the United States Coast Guard. She was constructed by Avondale Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana and named in honor of Captain "Hell Roaring" Michael A. Healy U.S.R.C.S. Her keel was laid on September 16, 1996. A spectacular...
(Commissioned 2000)
- USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) (Commissioned 1976, placed in a "Commission-Special" (Reserve) status 2006)
- USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) (Commissioned 1978)
Icebreaker
- USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83)
USCGC Mackinaw was a vessel specifically designed for ice breaking duties on the Great Lakes. LR number: 6119534Mackinaws design was based on the "Wind" class of Coast Guard icebreakers, but the cutter was built wider and longer than the other Wind class vessels so that her draft would be shallower...
(Decommissioned and museum ship 2006)
- USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30)
USCGC Mackinaw is a vessel built as a heavy icebreaker for operations on the North American Great Lakes for the United States Coast Guard...
(Commissioned 2006)
- USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278)
USCGC Staten Island was a United States Coast Guard . Laid down on 9 June 1942 and launched on 28 December 1942, the ship was commissioned on 26 February 1944, and almost immediately afterward transferred to the Soviet Union, under the Lend Lease program, under the name Severny Venter, which...
(Decommissioned and scrapped in 1974)
- USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279)
USCGC Eastwind was a United States Coast Guard Wind-class icebreaker.-Ship's History:*1942 -*1943 -*1944 -*1945 -*1946 -*1947 -*1948 -*1949 -*1950 -*1951 -...
(Decommissioned and sold in 1967)
- USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)
USCGC Southwind was a Wind-class icebreaker that served in the United States Coast Guard, the Soviet Navy, the United States Navy as the USS Atka and again in the U.S...
(Decommissioned and sold in 1976)
- USCGC Westwind (WAGB-281)
USCGC Westwind was a United States Coast Guard Wind-class icebreaker.-Ship's history:*1942 - 24 August: Keel laid at Western Pipe & Steel, San Pedro, CA, USA*1943 - 31 March: Launched at San Pedro, CA, USA...
(Decommissioned 1988, scrapped in Asia)
- USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282) (Decommissioned 1988, scrapped in Texas)
- USCGC Burton Island (WAGB-283)
USS Burton Island was a United States Navy that was later re-commissioned as a United States Coast Guard icebreaker, USCGC Burton Island....
(Decommissioned 1978, sold 1980, scrapped 1982)
- USCGC Edisto (WAGB-284)
The USS Edisto was a in the service of the United States Navy which was later transferred to the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Edisto ...
(Scrapped 1980)
- USCGC Glacier (WAGB-4) (Decommissioned, museum ship effort underway 2009)