AAT: RSV Nuyina

The Nuyina will fulfil a significant role as a research platform, in both sea ice and open ocean, with its design and facilities supporting research across several fields, from atmospheric studies to geoscience, oceanography, biology and more. In this stamp, the vessel’s stern is depicted with an image of a diatom, magnified thousands of times under an electron microscope. This group of ancient unicellular organisms grows in waters worldwide. The microscopic sea organism sits at the base of the Southern Ocean food web and is an important food source for other keystone marine species, such as krill.

The Nuyina is a ship for the future as much as for the present. It is significantly larger, stronger and faster than the icebreaker it replaces, and its design and construction provide for superior endurance for extended research seasons. Its state-of-the-art design will allow scientists to interrogate today’s critical science issues, as well as research questions that have not yet been conceived. Its design also allows for the operation and support of four light helicopters or two medium helicopters.

Nuyina means “southern lights” in palawa kani, a composite Tasmanian Indigenous language. The name provides a deep connection to Australia and specifically to the first people of its most southern state. The name also links the icebreaker to its southern locale, where the atmospheric phenomenon can be observed, as well as to both its immediate predecessor, the RSV Aurora Australis, and to Douglas Mawson’s earlier Antarctic vessel, SY Aurora. 

The Nuyina has been built to perform in the extreme conditions of Antarctica. It will be able to handle waves up to 14 metres (sea state 9), hurricane-force winds (Beaufort 12), air temperatures ranging from -30° to 45° Celsius, and water temperatures from -2° to 32° Celsius. With an efficient cruising speed of 12 knots, the icebreaker will achieve a maximum sustained speed of 16 knots in open water and will break ice at a continuous 3 knots in ice 1.65 metres thick.