Aurora Borealis (icebreaker)

	rough sketch of ERI Aurora Borealis
History
Name	Aurora Borealis
Namesake	Aurora Borealis
Operator	European Science Foundation
Cost	800 M€; <500 M€ (Aurora Slim);
General characteristics (initial concept)
Type	Icebreaker
Displacement	65,000 tons
Length	199.85 m (655.7 ft)
Beam	49 m (161 ft) (moulded); 45 m (148 ft) (waterline);
Draught	13 m (43 ft)
Ice class	Polar Class 1
Installed power	Eight main generators, 94 MW
Propulsion	Diesel-electric; three shafts (3 × 27 MW); Three fixed-pitch propellers; Six retractable transverse thrusters (4.5 MW each);
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) (max); 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) (cruising); 2–3 knots (3.7–5.6 km/h; 2.3–3.5 mph) in 2.5 m (8.2 ft) multi-year ice;
Endurance	90 days
Crew	Accommodations for 120 personnel (science and crew)
Aviation facilities	2 helipads, hangar for 3 helicopters

Aurora Borealis is a proposed European research icebreaker, comparable to the world's strongest icebreakers, planned jointly by a consortium of fifteen participant organizations and companies from ten European nations. If built, she would be the largest icebreaker ever built as well as the first icebreaker built to the highest IACS ice class, Polar Class 1.

The unique feature of the proposed vessel is its ability to perform scientific deep sea drilling in a sea ice covered ocean. The ship is proposed to have an operational lifetime of 35 to 40 years, with the main area of operations being the inner Arctic Ocean.

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