ARA Almirante Irízar (Q-5)
| 250px ARA Almirante Irízar (Q5) antarctic icebreaker | |
| Career (Argentina) | 50px |
|---|---|
| Name: | ARA Almirante Irízar (Q5) |
| Owner: | Argentine Navy |
| Ordered: | 1975 |
| Builder: | Wärtsilä, Helsinki, Finland |
| Launched: | 1978 |
| Acquired: | 1975 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 7533628 |
| Fate: | On fire April 11, 2007, off the coast of Puerto Madryn, Chubut in Argentina. |
| Status: | On repairs at Buenos Aires |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 14.899 metric tonnes |
| Length: | 121.3 m |
| Beam: | 25.2 m |
| Draft: | 9.5m |
| Propulsion: | 2× propeller motors |
| Complement: | 45 passengers, 135 crew |
The ARA Almirante Irízar is a large icebreaker of the Argentine Navy currently out of service due a 2007 incident.[1]
Background
The ship was named after Vice Admiral Julián Irízar, who in 1903 (then with the rank of Lieutenant Commander) commanded the Argentine corvette ARA Uruguay in a mission to rescue the Swedish Antarctic Expedition of Professor Otto Nordenskjöld, which had been trapped by the Antarctic winter. The mission was a success.
She was built at the Wärtsilä shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, as per a contract signed in 1975 between the Argentine Navy and the shipyard. Irízar was launched in February 1978 and was formally commissioned on December of that year, arriving at Argentina on March 23, 1979. She replaced the elderly icebreaker ARA General San Martín which was 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 is homeported at the Argentine Navy's Buenos Aires Naval Anchorage (Apostadero Naval Buenos Aires) in the capital city of Buenos Aires.
Service
During the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur) Irízar served as a troop transport and then as a hospital ship, a role for which her crew included medical personnel from the Argentine Army in addition to the naval medical staff. After the end of the war, she was used to return Argentine POWs and injured personnel back to the continent.
The ship gained fame in 2002 when she attempted to rescue the trapped supply vessel Magdalena Oldendorff. Even though Irízar failed to break the Magdalena Oldendorff free, she managed to move it to a safety position and resupply the ship with food, medicine and medical personnel until the ice melted and Magdalena Oldendorff could return to open sea.
2004 Incident
On the March 15 and 16, 2004, the Irizar entered sea designated as conservation zones under the jurisdiction of the Falkland Islands and issued demands for other ships to identify themselves. This prompted a protest from the British government to the Argentinian government over its policing of seas under Falkland jurisdiction. The diplomatic note also re-asserted British sovereignty over the islands.[2]
2007 Incident
On April 10, 2007, 22.00 Argentine time a fire broke out in the secondary electricity generators. By 23.30 the captain had ordered the evacuation. Argentine Navy and Argentine Coast Guard aircraft operated to keep track of the 24 lifeboats. The 296 persons inside the icebreaker (that includes civilians of the Antarctic bases) were helped by the nearest ships: a Panamanian tanker and by a Uruguayan and Argentine fishing vessels.
The icebreaker was returning from its annual Antarctic summer campaign, and the incident took place 140 miles east from Puerto Madryn.
The crew arrived safely to Puerto Madryn on April 12.[3] There were no casualties [4]
Photos were taken by an Argentine Navy P-3 Orion
Irizar 's Captain Guillermo Nelson Tarapow had stood alone almost 24 hours after seeing his crew safely abandon ship. Starting April 11, destroyer ARA Almirante Brown, corvettes ARA Granville and ARA Robinson, Auxiliary Ships ARA Gurruchaga and ARA Suboficial Castillo and Coast Guard PNA Thompson surrounded the Icebreaker and began rescue operations. Buzos Tacticos and members of the Rescue Team (Servicio de Salvamento) of the Argentine Navy boarded the ship and extinguished the fire. On April 15, preparations to tow the ship to Puerto Belgrano naval base began.[5] Irizar finally arrived to Puerto Belgrano on April 20.[6]
The fire caused the loss of the two H-3 Sea King helicopters stored in their hangar.
Subsequent to this incident, the British government have offered to supply Argentine bases in Antarctica, in support of scientific missions, using HMS Endurance. This offer was turned down by the government of Cristina Kirchner [7][8] which choose to loan the russian icebreaker Vasily Golovnin for the followings summer campaigns [9] [10]
Upgrade
On September 8, 2008 the ship arrived in Buenos Aires to be taken to Tandanor's shipyard for repairs. Repairs are expected to take until 2010 and will be supervised by Norwegian shipyward Aker Yards .[11] [12]
On March 2010 it was announced the Irizar would be ready for the 2011/2012 antarctic campaign, meaning the Vasily Golovnin would be used for the 2010/2011 too. [13]
As of May 2010, the Irizar is undergoing the fire repairs plus a reconfiguration at Tandanor shipyard. Although maintening his basic role for resupply the southernmost antarctic base Belgrano II the Irizar would be primarly used as a scientific ship with the addition of more laboratories onboard from the 30m2 currenly used to up to 400m2. The 1970s diesel engines were replaced by new ones acquired in Germany. The Navy would adquired a second polar ship (something similar to the currently used Vasily Golovnin) for the basic cargo role. Works are estimate to be finish by November 2011 [14]
The main radar of the Irizar is also being repaired in Argentina by CITEDEF [15]
Specifications
Displacement 14,899 tons Length 121.3 m Beam: 25.2 m Draft 9.5 m Propulsion original:2 × 5 950 kW (16 200 hp total) propeller motors
upgrade: 2 Diesel MTUEndurance 60 days Hangars: - 2 Argentine Navy H-3 Sea Kings
- or 2 Argentine Army Super Pumas
- or 2 Mi-17 [16]
Crew original:135+45
upgrade:313 [17]Ice breaking capability Continuous ice 1 meter thick Ramming ice 6 meters thick Notes
- ↑ La Nación newspaper: Reparar el rompehielos costará US$ 113 millones (spanish)
- ↑ Falkland Islands: "Almirante Irizar": 29 Mar 2004: Written Ministerial Statements (TheyWorkForYou.com)
- ↑ Argentine Icebreaker Fire Survivors Home
- ↑ "Confirman que no hay víctimas tras el incendio del rompehielos Irízar en alta mar" Clarín (Spanish)
- ↑ Comenzaron las tareas para remolcar al rompehielos
- ↑ Llegó el rompehielos Irízar a Puerto Belgrano
- ↑ "British support to replace Argentina’s stricken “Irizar”". Mercopress. 26 April, 2007. http://www.falklands.com/vernoticia.do?id=10342&formato=HTML. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
- ↑ "Reparar el rompehielos costará US$ 113 millones (Spanish)". La Nación newspaper. 10 de Julio de 2007. http://buscador.lanacion.com.ar/Nota.asp?nota_id=924403&high=garr%E9. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
- ↑ 2008 ARRIBÓ EL ROMPEHIELOS RUSO PARA COMPLETAR LA CAMPAÑA ANTÁRTICA DE VERANO
- ↑ 2009 FINALIZACIÓN DE LA CAMPAÑA ANTÁRTICA 2009-2010
- ↑ "El rompehielos Irízar llegó al puerto de Buenos Aires para ser reparado (Spanish)". Clarín (newspaper) newspaper. September 4, 2008. http://www.clarin.com/diario/2008/09/04/um/m-01753079.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ↑ El rompehielos Irízar llega a Buenos Aires para ser reparado
- ↑ GARRÉ RESPONDIÓ PREGUNTAS DE LOS DIPUTADOS DE LA COMISIÓN DE DEFENSA
- ↑ Nuevas misiones
- ↑ 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
- ↑ dos helicópteros MI 17 para incorporar a las tareas de las fuerzas armadas nacionales en la base antártica.
- ↑ [1]
External links
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