RV Sonne

History
Name: RV Sonne
Operator: RF Forschungsschiffahrt GmbH
Port of registry: Germany Bremen, Germany
Route: Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean
Builder: Rickmers Werft, Bremerhaven, Germany
Laid down: August 1968
Out of service: August 2014
Renamed: 25 June 2015, to ARA Austral
Identification:
Fate: Transferred to Argentina
History
Argentina
Name: Austral
Owner: CONICET
Operator: Argentine Navy
Cost: $54,192,935 ARS, €5,150,000
Acquired: 12 December 2014
In service: 7 November 2015
Status: in active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Research vessel
Displacement: 4,952 Tonnes
Length: 97.61 m (320 ft 3 in)
Beam: 14.20 m (46 ft 7 in)
Draught: 6.80 m (22 ft 4 in)
Installed power:
  • 2 × 1,150 kW electrical engines
  • 3 × 1,600 kW diesel-generator
Propulsion: Diesel-electrical system
Speed: 12.0 knots (22.2 km/h)
Crew: 25 + 25 scientists

The RV Sonne (German for 'Sun') is a former German fishing trawler converted into a research vessel by Schichau Unterweser AG, doing mostly geoscience-related work for a variety of commercial and scientific clients. She was registered in Bremen.[1] In 2015 she was sold to the Argentine institute CONICET and was renamed ARA Austral. [2][3] A new geoscientific research ship, also called RV Sonne, replaced her role in Germany that same year.[4]

Career

Rickmers Werft built Sonne in 1969 as a stern trawler and delivered her to Hochseefischerei Nordstern. From her homeport of Bremerhaven she operated mainly in the waters around Iceland, Greenland and Labrador.

Sonne was converted for use in a scientific exploration role by Schichau Unterweser AG in 1977 and by Rickmers Werft in 1978. In 1991 Schichau-Seebeck-Werft lengthened and modernized her.[1]

An order worth 124.4 million for a new geoscientific research ship was placed by the German federal ministry for education and research (90%) together with the costal states Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Bremen and Hamburg (10%) in May 2011. The new ship, also called Sonne, was built in Meyer Werft in Papenburg, and replaced the old Sonne in 2015.[4] Its launch took place on 5 April 2014.[5]

The last German cruise of RV Sonne took place in August 2014, after which she was retired from German scientific use.

Argentine service

She was sold to the Argentinian institute CONICET for € 5.150.000 and she arrived in the Argentine Navy Naval base Mar del Plata in February 2015. In June she was renamed ARA Austral. Austral is operated by a Navy crew, on behalf of the CONICET.[2][3]

In popular culture

Sonne appears in Frank Schätzing's novel The Swarm in connection with methane measurements off the Norwegian coast.[6]

See also

References

Notes

External links

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