Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) (original) (raw)

The MV Xue Long, built originally as a cargo ship of polar region by Kherson Shipyard, Ukraine on March 25, 1993, became the only research ice-breaker in China after elementary modification in 1994, for the Arctic and Antarctic regions. It is the re-supply vessel and the scientific research platform of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic research expeditions. The vessel is 167 meters long and 22.6 meters beam, with the full-loaded draft of 9 meters, the full-loaded displacement of 21250 tons, and the cruising radius of 12000 nautical miles.

It is an A2-class ice-breaker with capability of Breaking ice 1.2m(including 0.2m thick snow) at a sailing speed of 2kn, and can sail with the maximum speed of 17.9 knots, and also sail even during the weather of gale with more than 12 B scale. The maximum number of berths is 128.

The Xue Long is well quipped with all the advanced systems of self-contained navigation and weather observation, which is very helpful in polar voyage and research expedition.

There are a data processing center and seven laboratories with total area of 200 square meters and basic operating equipment on board of this vessel, including a low temperature sample storehouse, a low temperature cultivation room, a clean laboratory, a marine biological laboratory, a marine chemical laboratory, a geological laboratory, and a CTD winch, a biological winch, a geological laboratory, and a hallow-section device of EK-500 model. Besides, 3 operating boats and a helicopter are equipped for the transportation and research purposes in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.