• New MOSAiC team now bound for the Arctic

      crews, roughly 100 passengers were on board: researchers and Polarstern crewmembers. The two ships will tentatively rendezvous with the Polarstern near Svalbard this weekend, so that their passengers can relieve

    • ROV in Antarctic waters

      Polarstern Expedition
      Where the Earth’s plates meet, there is evidence of their motion. An expedition of the Research Vessel Polarstern will explore this activity in the Southern Ocean in detail. The

    • Setting sail to a region in rapid transition

      With the departure of the research vessel Polarstern from Punta Arenas (Chile) scheduled for this weekend, the "Summer Weddell Sea Outflow Study" (SWOS) international expedition will commence. Up to early [...] and ocean system, but one that can only be explored on site by research icebreakers such as the Polarstern due to challenging sea ice conditions.

    • Unique Insights into the Antarctic Ice Shelf System

      Polarstern Expedition
      The world’s second-largest ice shelf was the destination for a Polarstern expedition that ended in Punta Arenas, Chile on 14 th March 2018. Oceanographers from the Alfred Wegener

    • How unstable is the East Antarctic Ice Sheet?

      Expedition start
      On the 6th of January, the research vessel Polarstern set off from Cape Town in South Africa for an expedition of around eight weeks to the Antarctic. Extensive preventative measures [...] further planned expeditions in the coming years. Interested parties can follow this and subsequent Polarstern expeditions live in a new app.

    • New equipment for the AWI - "Gardener"

      RV Polarstern starts the Arctic season
      Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) are setting out with the research vessel Polarstern towards

    • The changing Arctic Ocean

      After eventful and busy months, the Arctic season ends this weekend with the Polarstern expedition called ArcWatch-1. The team of almost 100 crew and scientists measured sea ice thickness and properties [...] sea. Their data show significant changes compared to previous expeditions. On 7 September 2023, Polarstern reached the North Pole, and on 20 September there was the world's first livestream of an ROV under-ice

    • Back Again: First deployed buoy from the MOSAiC expedition

      the Polarstern to the Central Arctic. It was the first buoy to be sent off during the MOSAiC expedition. It was part of the "Distributed Network," a large buoy network that drifted around Polarstern at

    • 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 [...] parallel airborne campaign will complement the measurements and, at the outset of the expedition, the Polarstern will support the first ice testing of the new French Tara Polar Station research platform.

    • How is the ecosystem around the Antarctic Peninsula changing?

      Polarstern expedition draws to a close in Bremerhaven
      In the autumn, the waters surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula were still home to large quantities of krill and salps, ready to spawn. Thanks to [...] such changes was a central topic during this year’s Antarctic season on board the research vessel Polarstern, which will end when, on Monday 11 June 2018, the ship returns to its homeport, Bremerhaven, after