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Building an icebreaker

Building blocks

Nuyina is built from 10,000 tonnes of steel. A number of high tensile grades of steel were used to ensure the ship can cope with freezing Antarctic temperatures. The grade refers to the strength and toughness of the steel to withstand the cold, before it becomes brittle and loses its ability to withstand impact. Above the water line the steel can withstand temperatures down to −40°C, while the steel below the water line can withstand −10°C.

The ship was built in a LEGO-like process, in 229 sections which were moulded into 57 steel blocks. The block construction method allowed the shipyard to build different parts of the ship at the same time. There are so many sections because the steel is thick and heavy.

Each steel block was made up of a combination of steel plate, structural steel bars (‘stiffeners’) and ‘bulkheads’ – upright walls within the hull. As blocks were completed they were painted and moved from the construction warehouse to the dry dock and craned into place, then welded to other blocks in a process known as consolidation.

The keel is made of three blocks and was the first part of ship to be consolidated in August 2017.

Because of its weight, only about half the ship was constructed in the dry dock, before it was floated out to a wet dock in December 2018 for completion.

Commissioning

The ship underwent ‘harbour acceptance trials’ in the second half of 2019. The ‘HATs’ involved about 190 procedures to test propulsion, bilge, ballast and other auxiliary systems.

Work on Nuyina in Romania was suspended in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Nuyina was moved to Vlissingen in the Netherlands in August 2020 to enable equipment manufacturers to check and test the installation of its complex systems. The ship was towed 7000 km to the Netherlands because it had not yet undergone sea trials for the issue of regulatory certificates required to conduct international voyages under its own power.

The start of the sea trials phase was an important milestone for all involved in the icebreaker project. Nuyina spent time in the North Sea in November and December 2020 testing the ship’s speed, noise, propulsion systems, steering, advanced electrical systems, and science equipment.

Nuyina’s build team

DMS Maritime Pty Ltd was announced as the preferred tenderer to design, build, operate and maintain Australia's new icebreaker in October 2015, after a comprehensive tender process by the Australian Government. DMS is a 100% owned subsidiary of Serco Australia Pty Ltd.

DMS project managed the overall ship design and building process and delivered the new icebreaker to Australia in 2021. They are operating and maintaining the icebreaker from its home port of Hobart for an initial term of 10 years.

DMS subcontracted Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding, part of the Damen Shipyards Group, to design and build the icebreaker. The ship was built at Damen Shipyard Galatz in Romania, with some final commissioning completed in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. A truly international effort for the world's most advanced icebreaker so far!

Lower level of Nuyina under construction in a dry dock.
Nuyina under construction in the dry dock in Romania. Photo: Rob Bryson/AAD
Birth of an icebreaker
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