As well as providing a platform for science the new icebreaker must resupply Australia’s 3 Antarctic stations and its sub-Antarctic station on Macquarie Island. To do this the RSV Nuyina can carry a whopping 1200 tonnes below decks, in up to 96 20-foot shipping containers.

To move all these containers and heavy equipment around, the Nuyina has two 55 tonne ‘knuckle-boom’ cranes that can be used in rough seas, a 15 tonne crane on the heli-deck and a 15 tonne side-loading crane that can move containers from the wharf to the science aft deck.

Two barges can carry over 45 tonnes each, and 4 small or 2 large helicopters can sling load cargo from the front, and land on the aft deck for passenger and cargo transport.

One of the exciting new possibilities enabled by the size of the ship is concurrent operations. For example, both main cargo cranes could be loading barges while helicopters load cargo from the heli-deck. Similarly, science operations can occur at the stern, side and forward sea ice boom at the same time. This will significantly reduce the time needed for resupply and science operations.

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