| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Polarfront |
| Owner | Latitude Blanche |
| Port of registry | Marseille,  France |
| Builder |
|
| Yard number | 57 |
| Laid down | 1 August 1975[1] |
| Launched | 1 March 1976[1] |
| Completed | 14 December 1976[1] |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Expedition ship |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 54.25 m (178 ft) |
| Beam | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Draft | 4.368 m (14 ft) |
| Depth | 7.87 m (26 ft) |
| Ice class | DNV ICE-C |
| Installed power | Wichmann 5AX |
| Propulsion | Single shaft; controllable-pitch propeller |
MS Polarfront was a Norwegian weather ship located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It was the last remaining weather ship in the world, maintained by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
A weather ship is a ship stationed in mid-ocean to make meteorological observations for weather forecasting. Since the 1960s this role has been largely superseded by satellites, long-range aircraft and weather buoys.
MS Polarfront was known as weather station M ("Mike"), and was located at 66°N, 02°E. Standard meteorological observations were performed on an hourly basis from the beginning of the 1960s.
On 27 February 2009, the cancellation of the station was announced.[2] MS Polarfront was removed from service on 1 January 2010.
Since 28 June 2017, MS Polarfront has been owned and operated by the French shipping company Latitude Blanche for expedition purposes in high latitudes.
- ^ a b c d e "Polarfront (10693)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ Siste reis for værskipet - yr.no (Norwegian)