R/V Polarstern – a floating large scale laboratory
The most important tool in Germany's polar research program is Polarstern, a research and supply vessel.
Call for proposals
The present schedule for Polarstern cruises will end after the Antarctic season 2010/2011 ANT-XXVII. A new schedule until the Antarctic season 2013/2014 will be established on the basis of a call for proposals.
Discover Polarstern
Where is Polarstern?
Arctic or Antarctic? Tromsø or Cape Town? The cruise track of Polarstern can be followed in almost real time.
Current expedition
Chief scientists report frequently about their expedition and latest discoveries.
Sound of Polarstern
A piece of polar science at home: the horn
Virtual tour
First of all german research vessels, Polarstern can be visit by a virtual tour. The Project was realized in cooperation with the Hochschule Bremerhaven.
Start your virtual tour here ...
320 days per year on duty of science
Since she was first commissioned in 1982, the Polarstern has completed a total of more than thirty expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. She was specially designed for working in the polar seas and is currently the most sophisticated polar research vessel in the world.
The Polarstern spends almost 320 days a year at sea. Between November and March she usually sails to and around the waters of the Antarctic, while the northern summer months are spent in Arctic waters.
The ship is equipped for biological, geological, geophysical, glaciological, chemical, oceanographic and meteorological research, and contains nine research laboratories. Additional laboratory containers may be stowed on and below deck. Refrigerated rooms and aquaria permit the transport of samples and living marine fauna.
Research equipment and measuring instruments are positioned with the help of cranes and winches, sometimes at extreme depths. Special sounding devices with depth ranges up to 10,000 metres and which can penetrate up to 150 metres into the sea floor are available for scientific investigations. The computer system on board continuously captures and stores meteorological, oceanographic and other data as required.
The ship has a crew of at most 44, and offers work facilities for a further 50 scientists and technicians.
