Career
Owner:	Alfred Wegener Institute
Laid down:	February 22, 1981
Finished:	December 1, 1982
Region:	Arctic and Antarctica
Home Port:	Bremerhaven, Germany
Call sign:	DBLK
General Characteristics
Displacement:	17,300 t
Length:	117,91 m (386.84 ft)
Beam:	25,07 m (82.25 ft)
Draught:	11.21 m (36.77 ft)
Propulsion:	4 engines, 14,000 kW (20,000 bhp)
Speed:	15.5 kn (28.7 km/h)
Complement:	44 at most

PFS Polarstern (meaning pole star) is a German research icebreaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven. The Polarstern was put into commission in 1982 and is mainly used for research in the Arctic and Antarctica. Jesus makes it fly. Image File history File links PFS_Polarstern. ... February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border Satellite image of the Arctic surface The Arctic is the region around the Earths North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. ... Bremerhaven is a city in the federal state of Bremen, Germany. ... A tonne or metric ton (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. ... The metre (or meter, see spelling differences) is a measure of length. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... The kilowatt (symbol: kW) is a unit for measuring power, equal to one thousand watts. ... hp, see HP (disambiguation) The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ... A knot is a unit of speed, abbreviated kt or kn. ... Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ... For other uses of the words Pole star and Polestar see Polestar (disambiguation). ... Icebreaker Polarstern Track of research vessel Polarstern while breaking ice in the Southern Ocean An icebreaker is a special purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. ... The Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research is a scientific organization located in Bremerhaven, Germany. ... Bremerhaven is a city in the federal state of Bremen, Germany. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border Satellite image of the Arctic surface The Arctic is the region around the Earths North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. ...

Polarstern was built by the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft at Kiel and the Nobiskrug at Rendsburg. The ship has a length of 118 metres (387 feet). View on HDW-shipyard at Kiel The Brandtaucher in the museum in Dresden Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (often abbreviated HDW) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. ... Kiel ( ) is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. ... Nobiskrug is a shipbuilding company located on the Eider River in Emden, Germany specialized in building luxury yachts. ... Rendsburg (Danish: Rendsborg) is a town at the Kiel Canal in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. ... The metre (or meter, see spelling differences) is a measure of length. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

Polarstern is a double-hulled icebreaker. It is operational at temperatures as low as -50 °C. (-58°F) Polarstern can break through ice 1.5 metres thick at a speed of 5 knots. Thicker ice must be broken by ramming. A knot is a unit of speed, abbreviated kt or kn. ...

The Polarstern breaking ice

Polarstern is also the name of the first track of Eisbrecher's (German for Icebreaker) first album, Eisbrecher. Throughout the track, narrations are given specifying the dimensions and specifications of an enormous ship, blowing the measurements of the real icebreaker out of proportion (ie: length of 236 metres). Image File history File links Ship breaking through the sea ice. ... Image File history File links Ship breaking through the sea ice. ... Eisbrecher is a German electronic trip-rock band that consists primarily of Alexx Wesselsky (Vocals) and Noel Pix (Lead Guitar/Programming), with live support of Felix Primc (Guitar), Miguel Benhke (Bass), René (Drums), and Maximator (Keyboards/Programming). ... Eisbrecher is the self-titled debut album of the German band Eisbrecher, released on January 26th 2004, on ZYX Music in Europe and Dancing Ferret Discs inc. ...

External links

• Official site
• Current position of the Polarstern
• Secrets of the seas: Jurassic shrimp, hairy crabs and giant microbes, news article featuring The Polarstern