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Chinese company to build polar expedition icebreaker

Xinhua, June 16, 2017 Adjust font size:

A Chinese company Thursday announced plans to build an icebreaker, which will be China's first privately owned polar research vessel.

The icebreaker "Hadal X" will be built by Dutch shipyard Damen Group and owned and operated by Shanghai-based Rainbowfish Ocean Technology.

Construction will start in 2018 and the icebreaker will be put into operation in 2021.

The vessel will be 95 meters long and 17 meters wide, with a displacement of 5,000 tonnes, according to the preliminary design.

The icebreaker, which will be operated by a crew of 75, will have a cruising radius of 8,000 nautical miles (about 15,000 km) and will carry a helicopter and submersibles.

"Xuelong", or Dragon Snow, is currently China's only polar icebreaker. It was bought from a Ukrainian company in 1993. The government began construction of its first Chinese-made polar icebreaker in 2016.