Research and Logistics
News
News from aboard will be available in the Polarstern app. Below you can download the reports additionally as weekly reports.
PS 150 | 25 September - 1 October 2025
PS 150 | 18-24 September 2025
PS 150 | 11-17 September 2025
FS Polarstern on tour
| Port of registry | Bremerhaven |
|---|---|
| Length | 118 metres |
| Width | 25 metres |
| Max. draught | 11.20 metres |
| Max. displacement | 17,277 tons |
| Empty weight | 12,012 tons |
| Commissioning AWI | 1982 |
| Engine | 4 x KHD RBV 8M540 |
| Engine power | 19,198 PS (four engines) |
| Range | 19,000 nautical miles / 80 days |
| Max. speed | 16 knots |
| Operation area | Everywhere including pack ice zone |
| Crew | 44 |
| Days on sea per year | on average approx. 305 |
| Shipyard | Nobiskrug, Rendsburg and Howaldtswerke - Deutsche Werft Kiel AG, Germany |
| Scientists per day / long term sailing | none / 53 |
Polarstern is not only a research vessel but also a gigantic measuring instrument. Data are constantly collected aboard, some of them are also sent consecutively to different receivers. Further information about Polarstern can be found on the following pages:
Meteorological observations
Cruise Reports (data overview)
Sea Ice Portal
Marine Data Portal
(Kopie 11)
News
Journey through space and time
On Wednesday, 2 July 2025, the Polarstern will set sail from Tromsø, Norway, embarking on an expedition to the Arctic Ocean. Over the next two months, an international research team will analyse the feedback effects between global warming and sea ice retreat in the Arctic Ocean.
How climate change is altering the Arctic Ocean
On 29 May 2025, the Polarstern research vessel set sail from Bremerhaven for the Arctic. The destination is the AWI Hausgarten long-term observatory situated between Svalbard and Greenland, where the scientists will investigate how the ecosystems of the Arctic deep sea are reacting to changing environmental conditions as a result of rapid climate change.
Polarstern back in home port
Polarstern returned to her home port of Bremerhaven: After a good 20 weeks in the Antarctic season, the research vessel moored at the pier in the overseas harbour. Over the next six weeks, routine maintenance and repair work will take place at the Lloyd Werft shipyard.