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

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.

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

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

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

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.

guidelines how to issue a proposal. You represent a small team who wants to jointly conduct research on POLARSTERN? In this case, you can submit a proposal for secondary use. The number of team members should not [...] may submit a proposal for main use. You should though, bear in mind that the planning period for POLARSTERN corresponds to 3 years. Since autumn 2017, a review panel, ”Gutachterpanel Forschungsschiffe” (GPF) [...] (GPF), organizes the review and evaluation of the proposals for ship time on RV POLARSTERN and HEINCKE. The GPF has the mandate to evaluate the proposals for German research vessels and to make recommendations

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

February 2016
At midnight between the 19-20th of February we finally had the get-go for the FS Polarstern PS97 Expedition. It was a long way to this very point. An advance group had arrived in Punta Arenas [...] containers from the previous Antarctic Expedition PS96 with our materials. Unfortunately the FS Polarstern could not access the Mardones container loading pier in Punta Arenas, as it was still being occupied

vent fields during expedition PS137 on board the icebreakers Polarstern and Kronprins Haakon. Icebreakers Kronprins Haakon and Polarstern at the Aurora Hydrothermal Ventfield (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut)