Today we walked from the conference center to the river and the dock area. We took a tour on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen. The Amundsen is a 1200 medium class Arctic icebreaker that was built in 1979 to help clear the ice from the St. Lawrence River. It was originally named the Sir John Franklin after the Arctic explorer. The ship was decommissioned in 1996 and put in to dry dock until 2003 when it was refitted for laboratory work. Seventeen labs were put in to the ship and a “moon pool” was installed in the hull. The moon pool is a hole in the bottom that enables the scientists to take ocean samples without having to leave the vessel. The ship is 322 ft long and 64 feet wide. It can hold a crew of 38 and conduct a single expedition for 192 days without resupply.

The Amundsen is a medium class icebreaker There are some serious lifeboats on board the Amundsen

Once we got on board the ship we were able to see all of the parts. We walked around on the outside decks and saw the lifeboats and the helicopter deck. When we walked up the stairs to the bridge where we were able to sit in the captain’s chair. We continued by walking through the living spaces and saw one of the rooms where the scientists stay. The rooms are pretty nice with a bunk bed, a closet, and a sink with running water. When we went to the officer’s quarters, they were very nice and looked like a good place to relax. There was a game room and a small ship’s store. Then we went through a couple of lab areas and spoke to one of the technicians that help maintain the equipment. We even got to see the moon pool that looks down in to the water from inside the ship.

Mr. Wood gets to play with an icebreaker! The scientists have pretty nice rooms to live in.

The Amundsen is a fantastic research tool for international scientists to study the Arctic. Each year between May and December the ship is busy taking research teams in to the Arctic Ocean. Once there they are well equipped to study the water, ocean bottom, and the ice, and to monitor changes in the environment. The ship was renamed after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen who was the first person to sail through the Northwest Passage in 1903. Eight years later, he became the first man to reach the South Pole. Canada is proud of this ship and what is represents. They even have the image of the icebreaker on their $50 bill.

The lab areas are full of great instruments like really good microscopes.