SA Agulhas II
Encyclopedia
The SA Agulhas II is a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n research icebreaker
Icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...
.
Construction of the vessel was initiated by STX Europe in April 2011.
Her predecessor, the SA Agulhas
SA Agulhas
The SA Agulhas is an ice-strengthened research vessel. She was built in 1977, by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Shimonoseki, Japan. The SA Agulhas is South Africa's polar research vessel...
is scheduled to retire in March 2012, and the Agulhas II is scheduled to replace her in April 2012.
In 2009 the Independent Online reported that the vessel would be built in the Rauma shipyard in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
The vessel will have 800 square meters of lab space, and will be equipped with a gym, library and hospital.
The Independent Online reported that the vessel will be able to proceed through ice a metre thick at 9 kph.
The Independent quoted Zolile Nqayi, an official with South Africa's Ministry of Environmental Affairs, that the vessel had been designed to comply with the
International Maritime Organisation’s Safe Return to Port requirement.
According to Nqayi the requirement is a part of the new rules incorporated in the international Safety of Life at Sea treaty, which specified that new passenger vessels built after July 2011 should be designed so they are safer than lifeboats in a disaster.
According to Engineering News the first vessel was not designed to carry out scientific research, just icebreaking.
The capability to perform scientific research was added later. The new vessel was designed to perform scientific research.
The vessel is scheduled to cost 1.3 billion Rand
South African rand
The rand is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand , the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c"...
(approximately $ 170 million USD).
A naming ceremony was held in August, when the ship was named Agulhas II, but this may not be the vessel's final name.
It may be renamed after one of the heroes of South Africa's struggle against apartheit.