Australia Wants Old Danish Icebreakers

Three Danish icebreakers Danbjørn, Isbjørn and Thorbjørn may soon be home ported in Hobart, Australia, and headed for service in Antarctica. 

The Adelaide Nautical College & College On Murray is hoping to buy the vessels. While the Australian government has decided to build a new icebreaker to work in the South Pacific and Antarctica, these vessels are hoped to bridge the gap until the new icebreaker enters operation in around five years. 

The plan is for the Adelaide Nautical College to use the vessels to provide support to emergency response, search and rescue operations as well as assist in combating pollution at sea. 

The three ice breakers are currently based in Frederikshavn in Denmark. They have not been in service for over 15 years, but they have had a permanent skeleton crew assigned to take care of them.

The diesel-electric, 67m Thorbjørn was built in 1980 and has only seen around 300 days of active icebreaking during its entire service life. The vessel is equipped with a towing winch and stern notch designed to receive and hold the bow of another ship by the towing line, making it possible to tow a vessel up close through difficult ice conditions. Thorbjørn is equipped with a Wärtsilä air bubbling system which reduces the friction between the hull and ice or snow by hull lubrication, thus improving its icebreaking capabilities.  

The sale is expected to be completed later this year. 

Picture credit: icebreakers at sea – Bjarne Rasmussen