Built as a research vessel under yard No076 by the Western Shiprepair Yard in Klaipeda, Lithuanis where the hull was buit and completed and fitted out by Havyard Leirvik in Leirvik, Norway for GC Rieber Shipping in Bergen, Norway.
30 September 2000 laid down.
21 July 2001 launched as the BOLARBJØRN.
Tonnage 4,985 grt, 1,496 nrt, 3,700 dwt., dim. 89 x 18 x 8.35m. (draught), length bpp. 80.4m.
Powered by two Rolls-Royce Bergen BR-8 diesel engines, each 4,741 hp, one shaft, speed 15 knots.
Fitted out with bow stern thrusters and one retractable azimuth thruster.
Accommodation for 100 persons.
22 October 2001 completed.
MV POLARBJØRN (Norwegian: polar bear) is a Norwegian icebreaker built in 2001. From April 2011, she has been chartered to the Royal Navy as the ice patrol ship HMS PROTECTOR. She was commissioned into the Navy on 23 June 2011. Previously she operated under charter as a polar research and a subsea support vessel.
POLARBJØRN was designed for long Antarctic expeditions and for supporting subsea work. She is equipped to DP2 class and has accommodation for 100. Large cargo holds and open deck areas provide storage capacity for ROVs and related equipment. A 50-ton knuckle-boom crane and the 25-ton stern A-frame allow equipment to be deployed over the side and over the stern. Prior to the Royal Navy charter, she underwent a ten day refit in Odense, Denmark. The helipad, originally above her bridge, was repositioned over the stern.
POLARBJØRN worked in the "spot" market, on short-term charter. During 2009, the vessel was chartered for electromagnetic survey work in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea. She was exposed to a downturn in business during 2010, with only a 33% utilisation.
POLARBJØRN has been chartered to the Royal Navyfor three years from April 2011 as a temporary replacement for the ice patrol ship, HMS ENDURANCE, and she has been renamed HMS PROTECTOR (A 173) Following her charter, she underwent a brief refit to ready her for her role within the Royal Navy; the main work involved the repositioning of the flight deck from the top of the superstructure to the stern, the installation of a multi-beam echo sounder for survey work, an overhaul of the engines and gearboxes, armament, and the carriage of the ancillary vessels and vehicles (survey boats, all-terrain vehicles) used in support of the British Antarctic Survey. During September 2011, PROTECTOR embarked on operational sea training in preparation for her first deployment in November.
In February 2012, after receiving a distress call from a Brazilian Antarctic research station on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands, the PROTECTOR sailed to provide assistance after a large fire had broken out at the facility. 23 of her sailors were put ashore with fire-fighting equipment to tackle the large blaze. Two of the researchers died in the incident.
During March and April 2012, the ship operated in the vicinity of Rothera. During a major visit, she delivered around 170 cubic metres of aviation fuel. At 67° 34’S, this is the most southerly visit of her career to date, nearly 800 miles from Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of the South America. The crew competed in a ‘winter Olympics’ with scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. It is expected that she will visit Rothera regularly as part of her duties in this region.
2018 In service. IMO No 9233997
British Antarctic Territory 2012 £3.50 sg?, scott?
Source: Wikipedia
HMS PROTECTOR the Royal Navy ice patrol ship visited Tristan 14 March 2017 on her route to the Falklands and Antarctica. She visited to conduct the first systematic survey of the British Overseas Territory since the 1970s. Although the 1961 volcanic eruption had only marginally affected Edinburgh, it badly affected the waters surrounding the settlement, leaving them particularly hazardous for navigation and in need of surveying.
In the first survey of the area to be conducted using modern techniques, HMS PROTECTOR used her motorboat JAMES CAIRD IV and onboard systems to make a multi-beam echo sounder survey of the Edinburgh Anchorages.
Captain Peter Sparkes, HMS PROTECTOR’s Commanding Officer said: “It is a genuine pleasure and privilege for HMS PROTECTOR and the Royal Navy to be able to help in making the waters around Tristan da Cunha safer for all seafarers; we are delighted to be here.”
Source: http://www.pobjoystamps.com/contents/en ... Ships.html
Tristan da Cunha 2018 80p sg?, scott?