China’s first indigenous polar icebreaker enters service

China’s Xinhua news agency reports that Xue Long 2 (“Snow Dragon 2”), the country’s first locally-built polar icebreaker, has been delivered and has officially entered service.

Jiangnan Shipyard constructed the 122.5- by 22.3-metre vessel for the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), which plans to deploy the icebreaker to Antarctica later this year.

Xue Long 2 was designed by Finland’s Aker Arctic for conducting research in Arctic and Antarctic regions as well as geological and biological surveys. It will serve alongside the first Xue Long, a converted Ukrainian-built cargo vessel, which is still being operated by the PRIC.