History
Argentina
NameAlmirante Irízar
NamesakeJulián Irízar
OwnerArgentine Navy
Ordered17 December 1975
BuilderWärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland
Yard number420
Laid down4 July 1977
Launched3 February 1978
Completed15 December 1978
In service1979–2007; 2017–present
Identification
StatusUndergoing sea trials after refit
General characteristics (as built)
TypeIcebreaker
Displacement14,899 tons[1]
Length121.3 m (398 ft)
Beam25.2 m (83 ft)
Draft9.5 m (31 ft)
Installed power4 × Wärtsilä-Pielstick 8PC2-5L (4 × 3,828 kW)
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric; two shafts
  • Two DC propulsion motors (2 × 5,950 kW)
  • Two fixed-pitch propellers
Speed
  • 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) (max)
  • 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) in 1 m (3.3 ft) ice[2]
Endurance60 days
Complement245[3]
Sensors and
processing systems		Plessey AWS-2 radar[4]
Aircraft carried
Aviation facilitiesHelipad and hangar
General characteristics (changes in refit)
Installed power4 × MAN 9L32/40 (4 × 4,500 kW)[5]
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric, two shafts
  • Two propulsion motors (2 × 6,500 kW)[5]
  • Two fixed-pitch propellers
Complement313[3]

ARA Almirante Irízar is a large icebreaker of the Argentine Navy. She was ordered from a shipyard in Finland in 1975.[1]

A fire broke out in her auxiliary generator compartment in 2007, putting her out of commission until April 2017.

Background

The ship was named after Julián Irízar. In 1903, when he held the rank of Lieutenant, he commanded the Argentine corvette ARA Uruguay during a successful mission to rescue the Swedish Antarctic Expedition of Professor Otto Nordenskjöld, after the expedition had been trapped by the Antarctic winter.[6]

The vessel was built at the Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, under a contract signed in 1975 between the Argentine Navy and the shipyard. Irízar was launched in February 1978 and was formally commissioned on December that year, arriving in Argentina on 23 March 1979. She replaced the elderly icebreaker ARA General San Martín, which was then retired from active service.

Almirante Irízar's peacetime missions include annual campaigns to resupply and rotate the personnel assigned to the Argentine Antarctic outposts, as well as conducting and supporting scientific endeavors in Antarctica. She has also conducted several passenger tours to Patagonia and the Antarctic.

The ship's homeport is at the Argentine Navy's Buenos Aires Naval Anchorage (Spanish: Apostadero Naval Buenos Aires) in the capital city of Buenos Aires.

Service

ARA Almirante Irízar docked at her homeport in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
ARA Almirante Irízar as seen from above, showing hangars and landing deck.

During the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de Malvinas) the vessel served as troop transport on the 2 April operation[7] and then as a hospital ship,[6] Helicopters departing from Almirante Irizar's helipad landed Argentine troops on Darwin and Fox Bay on 2 April 1982.[8]

In April 1982, while operating north of the Falklands, the boilers of tanker ARA Punta Médanos failed and she lost all propulsion; Almirante Irízar towed her back to Puerto Madryn (about 330 miles west) in rough weather, the trip took about 60 hours. Punta Médanos couldn't be repaired, and was unable to continue operations during the war.[9]

After the end of the war, she was converted into a hospital ship.[6]

The ship gained attention in 2002, when she attempted to rescue the supply vessel Magdalena Oldendorff, which was trapped in pack ice off Antarctica.[10][11][12][13] Even though Irízar failed to break Magdalena Oldendorff free, she managed to move it to a safer position and resupply the ship with food, medicine and medical personnel until the ice melted and Magdalena Oldendorff could return to open sea.[14][15]

2004 incident

On 15/16 March 2004, the ship entered a maritime area designated as conservation zones under the jurisdiction of the Falkland Islands and issued demands for other ships to identify themselves.[16] This prompted a protest from the British government to the Argentine government over its policing of seas under Falkland jurisdiction. The diplomatic note also re-asserted British sovereignty over the islands.[17]

2007 fire

On 10 April 2007 at 22:00 UTC−03:00,[1] a massive fire broke out in the auxiliary generator compartment.[18] By midnight,[1] captain Guillermo Tarapow had ordered the evacuation.[18] Argentine Navy and Argentine Coast Guard aircraft, including P-3 Orion and Hercules C-130 aircraft,[1] operated to keep track of the 24 lifeboats.[18] The 296 persons aboard the icebreaker —including civilians of the Antarctic bases— were helped by the nearest ships, the Panamanian tanker Scarlet Ibis and a Uruguayan fishing vessel. The icebreaker was returning from its annual Antarctic summer campaign, and the incident took place some 140 miles (230 km) east of Puerto Madryn.[18]

The crew arrived safely in Puerto Madryn on 12 April. There were no casualties.[19]

The vessel's captain remained aboard alone for almost 24 hours after seeing his crew safely evacuated from the ship. Starting 11 April, destroyer ARA Almirante Brown,[20][21] corvettes ARA Granville,[21] and ARA Robinson,[20][21] avisos ARA Gurruchaga, ARA Suboficial Castillo,[20][21] and ARA Teniente Olivieri,[20][21] and Coast Guard PNA Thompson, surrounded the icebreaker and began rescue operations. Buzos Tacticos and members of the Rescue Team (Spanish: Servicio de Salvamento) of the Argentine Navy boarded the ship and extinguished the fire. On 18 April, the ship started being towed to the Puerto Belgrano naval base.[22] Irizar finally arrived to Puerto Belgrano on 20 April.[23]

The fire caused the loss of the two Sea King helicopters stored in their hangar, worth US$18 million each.[24] These have been replaced by four Sea Kings transferred from the US government.

Following this incident the British government offered to supply Argentine bases in Antarctica in support of scientific missions, using HMS Endurance.[25] This offer was turned down by the Argentine government,[26] instead they leased the Russian icebreaking vessel Vasily Golovnin for the subsequent Antarctic summer campaigns[27][28] at a cost of US$2m/month.[29] The Dutch cargo vessel Timca was hired for the 2012/13 campaign.[30][31] Vasily Golovnin would again carry out the following Antarctic campaign.[32]

Upgrade

Almirante Irízar undergoing repairs at Tandanor shipyard in 2011.

After a long period in Puerto Belgrano due to legal issues surrounding the incident, Irízar finally arrived in Buenos Aires on 3 September 2008 to be taken to Tandanor's shipyard for repairs. Repairs were expected to be completed in 2010 but continued into 2011, and were supervised by Norwegian shipyard Aker Yards.[33][34] As of November 2012, the refit had thus far cost over US$100 million and the ship was not expected to be ready until late 2013.[29] In April 2013, it was disclosed that the ship was still awaiting the necessary repairs and that sea trials had been delayed by a year, with oppositors claiming the money spent —some US$200 million plus another US$75 million in contracting supplying vessels[30]— could have been used to buy a new ship;[35] a month later, it was announced that work regarding control panels was still pending.[30]

The Tandanor shipyard repaired the fire damage and also reconfigured the vessel to increase laboratory space from 74 m2 (800 sq ft) up to 415 m2 (4,470 sq ft). This allows the ship to be used primarily as a research vessel in addition to its role of resupplying the southernmost Antarctic base Belgrano II.[3] The diesel engines have been replaced by four new ones purchased from MAN in October 2011.[3][36][37] The main radar of Irízar was also repaired in Argentina by CITEDEF.[4] Work was initially estimated to be finished by November 2011,[38] but it was not until April 2017 that the icebreaker was declared seaworthy again.[39]

In the Ushuaia Port (2017)

On 4 July, Almirante Irízar sailed for open sea trials for the first time in ten years. After departing Buenos Aires, the vessel headed to a dry dock in the main base of Argentine Navy, Puerto Belgrano, where the icebreaker underwent tests and verifications prior to ice trials in the Antarctic and return to full service.[40]

In November 2017, the ship came back to Buenos Aires after successfully passing its "ice test", the last stage of its restoration work that left it ready for service again. It was confirmed that it will be present on the Antarctic 2018 campaign.[41] The ship remained active in the early 2020s and was joined by the auxiliary vessels Puerto Argentino and Estrecho San Carlos for operations during the 2022/23 Antarctic re-supply mission.[42]

Second Antarctic vessel

In November 2014, the Argentine government awarded the design contact for the new Antarctic vessel to the Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic.[43] After initial concept development, the project was put on hold until May 2022 when the design work again continued. The Polar Class 4 vessel intended to work alongside Almirante Irízar will be built by Tandanor in Argentina and enter service in the late 2020s.[44][45]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Icebreaker "Almirante Irizar" ablaze in the South Atlantic". MercoPress. 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "The world icebreaker, ice breaking supply and research vessel fleet" (PDF). Baltic Ice Management. February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Gallo, Daniel (29 May 2011). "La reparación de un buque único" [The repair of a unique vessel] (in Spanish). La Nación. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  4. 1 2 La Armada Argentina solicitó una cotización para la reparación del radar del Irízar y ésta fue de 5.5 millones de dólares, mientras que el CITEDEF lo reparará por 1.3 millones de dólares Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 Proyecto De Reparacion Y Modernizacion Del Rompehielos De La Armada De La Republica Argentina "Almirante Irizar". Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  6. 1 2 3 "Irizar sets sail on second Antarctic rescue mission". MercoPress. 25 June 2002. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Brown, David (13 July 1987). The Royal Navy and the Falklands War. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-1779-1.
  8. ↑ Busser, Carlos (1984). Operación Rosario (in Spanish). Editorial Atlántida. p. 293. ISBN 9789500803243.
  9. ↑ "Remolque del Buque Tanque ARA "Punta Médanos"". Irizar.org (in Spanish). Roberto Argentero - Webmaster. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Russian scientists reach safety". BBC News. 10 July 2002. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2012. The Argentinian ice breaker Almirante Irizar is expected to be in the area on Thursday, and the officials said they were confident it would be able to break the ice and free the vessel.
  11. ↑ "Scientists rescued from Antarctic ship". BBC News. 2 July 2002. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2011. Essential crew members, living on supplies brought by the helicopters, will remain on board the Magdalena until the arrival of the Argentine icebreaker Almirante Irizar.
  12. ↑ "Icebreaker joins Antarctic rescue". BBC News. 25 June 2002. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2012. The Almirante Irizar will join a South African ship on the mission to rescue the Magdalena Oldendorff, a German vessel chartered by Russia, which has been frozen in a bay on the Princess Astrid Coast since 11 June.
  13. ↑ "Antarctic rescue mission begins". BBC News. 16 June 2002. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2012. The rescue ship has a Russian expert specialising on polar navigation – known as an "ice-pilot" – and will be aided by an Argentine ice-breaker, the Almirante Irizar, which is set to depart from Buenos Aires soon.
  14. ↑ "El rompehielos Irízar regresa a casa" [The icebreaker Irízar goes back home] (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. 19 August 2002. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  15. ↑ Baig, José (30 July 2002). "El Oldendorff se queda en la Antártida" [The Oldendorff will stay in the Antarctica] (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: BBC Mundo. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  16. ↑ Brown, Bill (23 March 2004). "Falklanders anger over "Almirante Irizar" incident". MercoPress. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "29 Mar 2004 : Column WS51 – Falkland Islands: "Almirante Irizar"". Parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Serrat, Oscar (11 April 2007). "Crew Abandons Argentine Icebreaker". The Washington Post. Buenos Aires. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "Intentan evaluar los daños en el Almirante Irízar, tras el incendio en alta mar" [Damages aboard Almirante Irízar are being evaluated, following a fire open sea]. Clarín (in Spanish). 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Aceleran los preparativos para remolcar al Irízar" [Preparations to tow the Irízar quickens] (in Spanish). Clarín. 17 April 2007. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "Olas de siete metros impiden el remolque del Irizar" [Waves seven meters high hinder the Irizar to be towed] (in Spanish). infobae.com. AFP, Télam. 16 April 2007. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  22. ↑ "Comenzaron a remolcar al rompehielos Irízar" [Icebreaker Irízar started being towed] (in Spanish). Clarín. 18 April 2007. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  23. ↑ "Llegó el rompehielos Irízar a Puerto Belgrano" [Icebreaker Irízar arrived at Puerto Belgrano] (in Spanish). La Nación. 20 April 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
  24. ↑ Rodríguez, Fernando (12 April 2007). "Ardió el rompehielos Almirante Irízar" [The icebreaker Almirante Irízar burned out] (in Spanish). La Nación. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014.
  25. ↑ "British support to replace Argentina's stricken "Irizar"". MercoPress. 26 April 2007. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  26. ↑ "Reparar el rompehielos costará US$ 113 millones" (in Spanish). La Nación. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
  27. ↑ "Russian icebreaker 'Vasily Golovnin' supplying Argentine Antarctica bases". MercoPress. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  28. ↑ "Russian chartered polar vessel supports Argentine Antarctic 2010/11 campaign". MercoPress. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 12 February 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  29. 1 2 "Argentine navy short on spares and resources for training and maintenance". MercoPress. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  30. 1 2 3 "Almirante Irizar en route to becoming another major scandal for Argentina's navy". MercoPress. 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  31. ↑ "Argentine Antarctic campaigns disarray and corruption claims turn off recruiting". MercoPress. 18 May 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  32. ↑ De Vedia, Mariano (10 January 2014). "Llega un buque ruso para la nueva campaña a la Antártida" [Russian ship arrives for the new Antarctic campaign]. La Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  33. ↑ "El rompehielos Irízar llegó al puerto de Buenos Aires para ser reparado" [Icebreaker Irízar arrived in Buenos Aires to be repaired]. Clarín (in Spanish). 4 September 2008.
  34. ↑ "El rompehielos Irízar llega a Buenos Aires para ser reparado" [Icebreaker Irízar arrives in Buenos Aires to be repaired] (in Spanish). La Nación. 3 September 2008. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  35. ↑ "Argentina's Antarctica flagship 'Almirante Irizar' remains 'grounded' in controversy". MercoPress. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  36. ↑ "Argentine refurbished ice-breaker should be ready for 2012/13 Antarctic season". MercoPress. 29 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  37. ↑ "El Irízar, más cerca de volver a navegar" [The Irízar is closer to navigate again] (in Spanish). infobae.com. 29 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  38. ↑ Gallo, Daniel (11 May 2010). "Un recorrido por las devastadas entrañas del rompehielos Irízar" (in Spanish). La Nación. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011.
  39. ↑ "Macri visitó el rompehielos Irízar, que volvió a navegar después de 10 años". casarosada.gob.ar (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  40. ↑ "Icebreaker Almirante Irizar expected in Puerto Belgrano for high seas trials". MercoPress. 5 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018.
  41. ↑ El rompehielos Irizar llegó al puerto de Buenos Aires y formará parte de la campaña antártica Nuestromar.org.ar, 4 November 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  42. ↑ Piñeiro, Luis (11 November 2022). "La Armada Argentina se prepara para la campaña antártica 2022/23". Defensa.com.
  43. ↑ "Concept design for Argentinian Special Purpose Ship" (PDF). Arctic Passion News. Aker Arctic. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  44. ↑ "Argentinian polar ship project kicks off". Aker Arctic. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  45. ↑ Dinatale, Martin (4 May 2023). "Fuerzas Armadas: Argentina y Finlandia avanzan en la construcción de un buque para la Antártida". El Cronista.

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