The Damen shipyard in the Romanian port of Galati will design and build the future Australian icebreaker that will replace the current ship used in the research missions in Antarctica.

Australia will pay the shipyard almost EUR 357 million. The whole amount allotted to this project totals EUR 1.29 billion, reports local Profit.ro.

The icebreaker should be completed by 2020. The ship will have a length of 156 meters, a total capacity of 24,000 tonnes and will host up to 116 scientists and up to four helicopters.

British company SERCO will operate the icebreaker for 30 years through its Australian subsidiary DMS Maritime.

The Dutch company Damen Shipyards owns the Damen shipyard in Galati.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Damen Shipyards Galati on Facebook)