Photo: Render of the Tara drifting polar station
At the shipyard in Cherbourg, France, the shipbuilding company Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie is completing the construction of a unique hybrid of a small drifting research station and the oceanographic vessel Tara. This project was presented by the French Oceanic Foundation Tara in June 2022 in Paris. The vessel will be launched in September 2024. Following the acceptance tests at the end of the year, it will head to the waters of the northern seas to test its characteristics.
Over the course of 20 years, scientific expeditions based on the ship will study the impact of climate change on the biodiversity and adaptive abilities of endemic species, the mechanisms of climate change, their impact on ecosystems, migrations of Arctic marine organisms, conduct research in the field of biotechnology and biomedicine, as well as adaptation to life in extreme conditions. The drifting laboratory is designed to withstand temperatures down to -52°C and will spend 90% of its time in the Arctic ice. The first scientific expedition with a crew on board is planned for 2025, the operation of the station will continue until 2045.
The Tara polar station will allow a crew of 12–20 people to carry out missions lasting 18 months at a time. To limit environmental impact, the ship will operate a wastewater treatment plant, a degreaser, a sealant and a bioreactor to process various wastes generated by onboard activities.
The ship will have 6 laboratories: a wet laboratory for working with samples, including ice cores, dry laboratories with instruments, and laboratories designed to conduct on-site experiments with little-known organisms and ecosystems. The station will be equipped with wind turbines, solar panels, two drones, including a marine one, sampling equipment and a large number of atmospheric and underwater sensors. The project budget is 18 million euros, with 13 million euros provided by the state.
The Drifting Polar Base, designed in collaboration with architect Olivier Petit, is a 24-meter-long aluminum vessel shaped like a rugby ball, which allows the ice to push it out for a long period of drift, freezing into the pack ice. To address the issue of a large contrast between external and internal temperatures, which leads to condensation and the formation of an ice crust inside the vessel, an effective ventilation system was designed.
The vessel's hull is made of 20 mm aluminum, a metal less brittle in cold weather than steel, and consists of 3 separate parts: the underwater part with technical rooms, the main deck with 12 cabins and scientific rooms and the “geode”, the upper deck with the command station and common areas, including the kitchen, wardroom and sick bay. There is a supply of fuel on board to refuel helicopters arriving to evacuate seriously ill expedition members.
In 2025, the polar station will embark on a test voyage to the Greenland region. After completing this test voyage, it will return to France for final technical development before heading to the North Pole. From now on, for the first time in its history, France will receive an effective and inexpensive tool for conducting national scientific research in the Arctic.
Source: Techniques de l'ingénieur, Le marin, Le cotentin
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