The prime minister says Australian firm DMS Maritime will undertake vessel’s design and building process, and will also operate and maintain it

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A new custom-built icebreaker to support exploration and research in the Antarctic was promised yesterday.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the icebreaker for exploration and research in Antarctica would be designed, built and operated by the Australian company DMS Maritime.

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“We have always been recognised as a leader in Antarctica and the Australian government is absolutely committed to that continuing,” Turnbull said in Hobart.

The new vessel will be 61 metres longer and have faster ice-breaking capabilities than the RV Aurora Australis – commissioned in 1990 – which it will replace.

It will include a multi-beam bathymetric echo sounder to support sea floor mapping, and portable laboratories will give scientists room to conduct cutting-edge research.

The environment minister, Greg Hung, said: “It’s a transport ship but it’s also a logistics ship. Most excitingly, it’s a research vessel which will be equipped with technology beyond anything which we’ve had the capacity to deploy to date.”

The procurement represents the single biggest investment in the history of Australia’s Antarctic program.

DMS Maritime is the preferred tenderer to undertake the icebreaker’s design and building process and will also operate and maintain it. Subject to contract negotiations, it will be built by a global specialist shipbuilder, Damen Shipyards, which is based in the Netherlands.

The new ship will be based in Hobart and is expected to be operating by October 2019.