Flying the flag over Australia’s new icebreaker

20 August 2021 This article is over 3 years old

The Australian flag is flying on the nation’s new icebreaker RSV Nuyina (noy-yee-nah) for the first time after a ceremony in the Netherlands yesterday.

Antarctic Flagship

Video transcript

A very exciting day for Australia and it's a very exciting day for Dutch Australian relations too that it's sailing off to Australia having been built by these major ship builders Damen and I think I'm just thrilled by it.

It's one of our babies, so it will always remain our baby, but she has to go to sea, she has to go and work for the Antarctic Division with Serco.

It's a monumental occasion to take delivery of a brand new icebreaker that's been custom designed and built for the Australian Antarctic Program. It's really special. It's day one in some ways of a 30 or possibly 40 year life span.

It makes me very proud to be an Australian that we've got this vessel, and that we're going to be able to do so much with it, and I just want to wish all those scientists and crew who will be working on it all the best for the future. You will be able to make a great contribution to the world with it.

Everyone involved in this project can take great pride in their contribution to the development of a vessel that has set a new world benchmark in polar science capability.

I'm sure it'll be doing things, you know 20 years from now, that we haven't even thought of yet.

That's the really exciting part, just like there'll be Australian seafarers serving on the ship that haven't even been born yet. It's kind of fun to think of that.

[end transcript]

The event in Vlissingen was the official transfer of the ship from its European build team, marking the final stage of a 1900-day journey from contract signing to handover.

The design and build of the vessel has been a multi-national effort between the Australian Antarctic Division, the vessel operator Serco, Danish concept designers Knud E Hansen, Dutch engineering and detailed design team Damen, and the construction team at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.

RSV Nuyina will now undergo some final preparations ahead of its eight-week journey to its new home port of Hobart.