New icebreaker for Australia floated out at Damen Shipyards Galati

Daman Shipyards Galati has carried out the floating out of the Antarctic Supply Research Vessel (ASRV) Nuyina currently under construction.

The procedure was achieved by raising the water level in the yard’s dry dock by six metres, a process taking two days to complete.

Once afloat, the vessel was manoeuvred 250 metres to a quayside berth where the ongoing construction and outfitting process will take place.

Damen is building the 160-metre long ASRV for Serco subsidiary DMS Maritime on behalf of the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy.

Nuyina has been designed with a multi-mission role in mind. It will keep Australia’s three permanent research stations on the Antarctic continent and its research station on Macquarie Island supplied with cargo, equipment, and personnel. It will also serve as a fully equipped research laboratory facility for up to 116 scientific staff.

Construction of the vessel began in 2017, and it will continue with the positioning of pre-fabricated superstructure blocks, bringing the finished vessel to its full 10-deck height of just over 50 metres.