History | |
---|---|
Chile | |
Name | Almirante Viel[2] |
Operator | Chilean Navy |
Builder | ASMAR, Talcahuano |
Cost | US$217 million[3] |
Yard number | 114[1] |
Launched | 22 December 2022[2] |
Commissioned | 2022 (planned) |
Identification | IMO number: 9843948[1] |
Status | Launched |
General characteristics [4] | |
Type | Icebreaker, research vessel |
Tonnage | |
Displacement | 13,000 tons[3] |
Length | 111 m (364 ft 2 in) |
Beam | 21 m (68 ft 11 in) |
Draught | 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in) |
Depth | 10.6 m (34 ft 9 in) |
Ice class | Polar Class 5 |
Installed power | Four General Electric diesel engines |
Propulsion | Diesel-electric; two shafts (2 × 4.5 MW) |
Speed |
|
Range | 14,000 nautical miles (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) |
Endurance | 60 days |
Aviation facilities | Helipad and hangar |
Almirante Viel is a Polar Class 5 icebreaker currently under construction in Chile.[5][6][7] Previously referred to with the project name Antartica 1, it will replace the 1969-built second-hand vessel Almirante Óscar Viel acquired from Canada in 1994 and decommissioned in 2019. Accounts differ as to when construction of the ship began. The Santiago Times reported the first steel was cut in May 2017, while Jane's Navy International reported construction began in August 2018.[3][8]
Almirante Viel will be 111 metres (364 ft 2 in) long, and have beam and draft of 21 metres (68 ft 11 in) and 7.2 metres (23 ft 7 in).[3] She will displace 13,000 tons. Her maximum speed will be 15 knots (28 km/h).
She will have the capacity to house 150 crew and researchers or passengers.[3]
She will be able to sail through one-year ice, one meter thick, at 2 knots (3.7 km/h).[3]
Maritime Executive reports that when completed, in 2022, she will be comparable to Argentina's ARA Almirante Irízar.[9]