The Brazilian Navy signed a contract last week for the construction of a new support ship for the Antarctic program Proantar. The Antarctic Support Ship, or Napant, will be built by Polar 1 Construção Naval and is expected to be delivered by September 2025.
The Napant will be assembled at the Jurong-Aracruz shipyard, located in Aracruz, in the state of Espírito Santo. It is intended to replace the oceanographic support ship Ary Rongel, built in Norway in 1981 for expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic seas, which began operating in Proantar in 1994.
The contract with Polar 1 provides for the construction of a ship capable of operating in the summer and autumn on the Antarctic continent and navigating in areas with more recent ice formation.
Therefore, the vessel will have a specifically shaped hull and a reinforced special steel belt just below the waterline, the Brazilian Navy reported.Functions
A support ship of this type spends about six months a year in Antarctica, between October and April, and returns to Brazil at the end of the Antarctic summer.
Among its functions are the transportation of supplies to the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station — the Brazilian scientific base on King George Island —, support for researchers, and conducting oceanographic surveys on the route between Brazil and the island.
The Napant will be able to accommodate a crew of 92 people, 25 of whom are researchers, and operate autonomously for 70 days. The program was created in January 1982 to promote Brazilian scientific research in the Antarctic region.
Source: agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br