• Return from East Antarctica

      After more than six months, the research icebreaker Polarstern is returning to its home port of Bremerhaven after a successful Antarctic season. The expeditions to the southern hemisphere and the transit [...] geology of East Antarctica as well as student training. Because of this special study area for the Polarstern, there was a change of personnel in Hobart, which was the first port call in Australia in her more

    • Call for tender procedure for the construction of a successor to the icebreaker Polarstern has been cancelled.

      cancelled the Europe-wide call for tenders for the procurement of a new polar research vessel, Polarstern II, for legal reasons. In times of unresolved climate issues, the research mission of the Alfred

    • Statement on Call for Tenders for Polarstern’s Successor

      Polarstern
      Prof Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute: “We were extremely pleased and relieved to pick up on the signals from the political community that the Budget Committee of the [...] the German Bundestag has opted to provide funding for the procurement of the Polarstern II. Thanks to this wonderful news from the Adjustment Session on the Federal Budget for 2022, we have come a major [...] closer to acquiring a modern, high-performance and sustainable successor to our research icebreaker Polarstern."

    • Comprehensive assessment of the changing Central Arctic Ocean

      are the impressions and outcomes that an international research team is now bringing back from a Polarstern expedition to the Central Arctic. After a four-month-long Arctic season, the Alfred Wegener Institute’s

    • Student training on Polarstern’s transit to the Antarctic

      This weekend, the research vessel Polarstern is scheduled to depart from her homeport in Bremerhaven. In addition to the crew, 33 scientific expedition participants will be on board – primarily young

    • The new Polarstern: Contract for new German research icebreaker awarded

      the German research fleet, German shipbuilding, and international polar research alike: the new Polarstern will be constructed in Wismar by thyssenkrupp Marine Systems. company received the official contract

    • Northernmost hot springs of the earth discovered

      Faculty of Geosciences at the University of Bremen. On an expedition with the research icebreaker POLARSTERN, researchers discovered the northernmost hydrothermal field on Earth here – only around 300 kilometers

    • Özdemir visits shipyard for the new Polarstern

      he was informed about the current state of construction regarding the new research icebreaker Polarstern for the Alfred Wegener Institute. Shortly before Christmas 2024, the Federal Ministry of Education

    • Polarstern back in home port

      Polarstern returned to her home port of Bremerhaven at high tide this morning. After a good 20 weeks in the Antarctic season, the research vessel moored at the pier in the overseas harbour at 5:00 am.

    • 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 of the 95 expedition participants, led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, is the AWI Hausgarten, a