RV Sonne (2014)

The RV Sonne in Kiel in 2014.
History
Name: RV Sonne
Owner: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)
Operator: Briese Schiffahrts GmbH
Port of registry: Germany Germany
Builder: Meyer Werft, Germany
Cost: 124,4 Mio. €
Laid down: 12. April 2013
Launched: 5. April 2014
Christened: 11. Juli 2014
Acquired: 17. November 2014[1]
Homeport: Wilhelmshaven[2]
General characteristics
Class and type: Research vessel
Tonnage: 2566 NT
Length: 116.0 m (380 ft 7 in) [3]
Beam: 20.6 m (67 ft 7 in) [3]
Draft: 6.4 m (21 ft 0 in) [3]
Depth: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in) [3]
Installed power: 4 GenSets – Wärtsilä diesel engines each 1,620 kW / 1,572 ekW [3]
Propulsion: 2 diesel electric engines, each 2350 kW
Speed: 15.0 knots (27.8 km/h) [3]
Crew: 35 + 40 scientists [3]

The RV SONNE is a German deep ocean research vessel. The ship became available for science in December 2014[4] and it operates mainly in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans.[3] She is registered in Wilhelmshaven and replaced its predecessor of the same name.

Career

An order worth €124.4 million for a new research ship to replace the older research ship RV Sonne 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 construction took place in Meyer Werft in Papenburg and the Sonne left the dock in April 2014. It was christened in July 2014 and handed over in November 2014.

The Sonne is a multipurpose working platform for marine and related disciplines: physical and biological oceanography, marine geology, marine and atmospheric chemistry, marine geophysics and meteorology.[3] The ship will operate mainly in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans.

Equipment

RV Sonne is equipped to cover a wide spectrum of ocean research. An A-frame crane at the stern has a lifting capacity of 30 t. This can be used for deploying submersibles and other heavy equipment. Four cranes with a lifting capacity of 10 t and three small cranes (2 x 2 t and 1 x 0.5 t) allow the transport of research material across the ship. A winch enables deploying devices to the ocean floor to 12,000 m of water depth.

For troubleshooting during the scientific expeditions, the ship is equipped with several workshops: a deck workshop (for heavy mechanical work), an electronic workshop, a machinery workshop (for fine mechanical work) and an electric workshop.

Up to 25 20' container can be stored on board (4 of them inside). There are 550 m² of scientific laboratories.

References

  1. ↑ "Übergabe des Forschungsschiffes "Sonne"". Meyerwerft.de. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "The new RV Sonne". German Marine Research Consortium. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 von Bröckel, Klaus (2013). "The New German Deep Sea Research Vessel "Sonne"" (PDF). HYDROGRAPHISCHE NACHRICHTEN (95).
  4. ↑ "Cruise schedule and Equipment plan". Control Station German Research Vessels. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
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