|
Araon returns home this week after completing 3-month mission
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's first icebreaker vessel will return home this week after completing a three-month voyage along the coast of Antarctica to explore potential sites for a new research base, officials said Sunday.
A welcoming ceremony is planned for the return of the Araon at 2 p.m. on Monday at the nation's western port of Incheon, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. Around 100 family members, government officials and scientists were invited to attend the event, it added.
The 7,487-ton icebreaker and research ship embarked upon its first-ever expedition on Dec. 18 with a mission to test its icebreaking ability and collect data needed to select a site for the nation's second base in the Antarctic region.
South Korea already runs the King Sejong Station, located on King George Island, but wants to build another on the frozen continent to carry out tests on Antarctic conditions.
The icebreaker is equipped with various oceanographic, geophysical and arctic environment laboratories and has an endurance of 37,000 kilometers, or about 70 days. It is designed to sail through sheet ice up to 1 meter thick at 5.5 kilometers per hour.
In July it will set sail again, this time toward the Arctic, to conduct joint research with a Chinese vessel on climate and maritime conditions there, the ministry said.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)
| 
Home
