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THE NEW L’ASTROLABE AND THE FRENCH SOUTHERN AND ANTARCTIC LANDS
THE NEW L'ASTROLABE – Two years after the signing of the contract, the L'Astrolabe logistics and patrol polar vessel (pennant number P800) has already been delivered to France. Christened on July 12 in the French city of Concarneau, she will be received at her base on Réunion Island (Indian Ocean) in September, and will perform the first Antarctic supply mission in summer 2017-18.
At a cost of € 50 million, the watercraft was designed by Marine Assistance and built by the Piriou shipyard, both French, with technical advice from Aker Arctic (Finland). The hull was made in the Polish shipyard Crist and then transferred to France, where the ship was completed. She is 72 m in length, 16 m in beam and displaces about 4,000 t, with a freight capacity for 1,200 t of load. She has a crane for 35 t, is equipped with hangar for a helicopter and is able to accommodate up to 60 people on board, including the crew. Endowed with a hull certified by Bureau Veritas as icebreaker 5, the vessel was made to continuously navigate in a layer of 60 to 80 cm thick ice. She has the autonomy for a 35-day mission, at a 12 knots speed. The propulsion is diesel-powered, with four Wärtsilä 8L20 engines generating 1,600 kW each, connected to two controllable pitch propellers.
The Piriou shipyard is also responsible for the maintenance of the ship, to be held at Réunion Island during the three years following the delivery. Besides, it must provide training for the two relay crews that will operate the ship. Teams will be enabled for navigation in frozen waters by the French navy.
The new unit will replace two watercrafts: the naval patrol boat Albatros (P681, 1966-2015), and another vessel also called L'Astrolabe (some ships of historical French expeditions have made that name famous). The latter belonged to P&O Maritime Services, and was chartered annually between 1988 and 2017 by TAAF (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and IPEV (Institut Polaire Français Paul-Émile Victor). She was used in the supply missions of Dumont d'Urville Antarctic base and in the scientific support of the other IPEV stations located in the southern islands.
The new L'Astrolabe will be shared by three institutions, under a peculiar regime: owned by the TAAF, she will be operated by Marine nationale and chartered to the IPEV. Having the Australian port of Hobart as a temporary base, the polar institute will use the watercraft 120 days a year (between October and March) to support French operations in Adélie Land, Antarctica. For the remaining 245 days of the year (of which about 110 at sea), the navy will use the ship on armed patrol missions, mainly monitoring fishing in France's large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Indian Ocean.
EEZ AND CONTINENTAL SHELF – The exclusive economic zone corresponds to the limit of 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) counted from the coast to the high seas. Only the respective coastal nation is entitled to manage and exploit the living or non-living natural resources within that area. Subject to certain requirements, the willing nation may also claim the extension of the corresponding seabed area, in addition to the 200 nm and up to 350 nm over the continental shelf, thus obtaining exclusive access to the non-living resources of the seafloor and subsoil and to the living sedentary species. In addition to all the fishing, oil and natural gas, there are many other natural resources at the sea, and controversial ocean mining projects to extract the so-called "polymetallic nodules" from the seabed are already underway.
Considering a radius of 200nm, any oceanic island, however small, will have around it an exclusive economic zone with more than 430,000 km2, as long as there is no overlap with another EEZ, and there is still the referred possibility of extension of the continental shelf. Nevertheless, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) stipulates that no EEZ or seabed area will be assigned to the islets that can not be inhabited or economically exploited, even though the dominion over them is not under discussion. Among other reasons, that is why today even very small islands are subject to the sovereignty of some State, and, depending on their location, are effectively occupied (*).
Despite the small emerged area of French possessions in the Indian Ocean (less than 8.000 km2), its corresponding exclusive economic zone is more than 2.65 million km2 –an expressive portion within the almost 11.7 million km2 that form the entire French EEZ, which is the biggest in the world.
French EEZ is the largest in the world
The French EEZ in the Indian Ocean region and in the metropolis, in green
THE CURRENT FRENCH PRESENCE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AND IN THE ADÉLIE LAND – The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) are a vast overseas territory spread across the Indian Ocean and Antarctica, with climates ranging from polar to tropical. The territory comprises five different districts, namely: (1) Terre Adélie (the only Antarctic district and the only non-insular portion of TAAF, corresponding to the French claim on Antarctica); (2) the Kerguelen Islands and (3) the Crozet Islands, both situated in the subantarctic zone; (4) the subtropical St. Paul and Amsterdam Islands; and (5) the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean (Europa, Bassas da India, Juan de Nova, Glorioso and Tromelin). These places have no permanent population, but are kept occupied by scientific or military personnel –all but Bassas da India. The French Republic also has two overseas departments, Mayotte and Réunion, in the vicinity of the Scattered Islands.
In red, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands; in blue, the two overseas departments in the Indian Ocean
More than a million people live in the departments of Reunion and Mayotte. In addition to military police corps (Gendarmerie nationale), these places have a significant presence of the armed forces. In the archipelago of Mayotte there is a Foreign Legion detachment (260 men), besides 38 members of the Marine nationale, which operated three small boats in 2016. In Réunion Island there is a regiment of naval infantry paratroopers and a detachment of the French air force, which operates two transport aircraft Casa CN-235.
The city of Le Port, in the Réunion Island, houses a multifunctional port, the only one in France to combine the functions of a ferry terminal, a commercial port (for containers and for dry and liquid bulk), a fishing port, a yacht marina and a naval base. Besides being the home port for the new L'Astrolabe, it is where the Marine nationale docks the Floréal and Nivôse frigates (2,950 t of displacement), the patrol vessel Le Malin (1,300 t) and the brand-new multimission ship Champlain ( 2,300 t), in addition to smaller vessels. Le Port is also the base of operations for the oceanographic vessel Marion Dufresne 2, which, alike the old L'Astrolabe, is owned by a private company (Louis Dreyfus) and leased to the French government (to the TAAF, for logistics at insular areas, and to the IPEV, for oceanographic research).
IPEV owns five permanently occupied scientific bases in the region. One of them, Concordia, is located within the Australian Antarctic Territory, on the Antarctic plateau, but the others are situated in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands: Dumont d'Urville (in Adélie Land), Port-aux-Français (on the Kerguelen Islands) Alfred-Faure (on the Crozet Islands) and Martin-de-Viviès (on Amsterdam Island, also referred to as "New Amsterdam"). The so-called "Southern Lands" (Kerguelen, Crozet, St. Paul and Amsterdam islands) are very remote and accessible only by sea, but France maintains rudimentary airstrips and meteorological stations on the other islands that make up the TAAF, except for Bassas da India atoll, unsuitable for occupation. The Scattered Islands are home to small military detachments from Réunion and Mayotte: the naval infantry paratroopers are present at Europa and Juan de Nova Islands and the Glorioso Islands are garrisoned by the Foreign Legion. Tromelin receives scientific personnel only.
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands are a juridical person with administrative and financial autonomy. Subordinated directly to the French government, its central administration is based in Saint-Pierre, Reunion (it was headquartered in Paris until the year 2000). Each of its five districts is a deconcentrated circumscription of the entity: the respective capital is the research station itself, with a TAAF representative in each district (chef de district), to whom legal and administrative functions are delegated –the exception is the Scattered Islands, whose chief is based in Saint-Pierre.
However, French sovereignty over much of these Indian Ocean and Antarctic territories is quite controversial. The pretension over Adélie Land, whose litigation is suspended under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, is only recognized by four countries (the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia and New Zealand). The department of Mayotte is claimed by Comoros Islands. The Scattered Islands are also disputed: Europa, Bassas da India, Juan de Nova and Glorioso are claimed by Madagascar, while Tromelin is claimed by Mauritius. Out of all the TAAF and Indian Ocean departments, only the possession of Réunion, Crozet, Kerguelen, St. Paul and Amsterdam islands is not disputed.
LOGISTICS FROM RÉUNION ISLAND – The situation of France in the southeastern Indian Ocean resembles the British presence in the South Atlantic. Both are northern hemisphere countries, with a history of colonial domination and territorial pretensions over Antarctica, occupying territories that are claimed by their less powerful neighbors, but there are fundamental differences between both cases. France does not have something like the Ascension-Saint Helena-Tristan da Cunha-Falklands line, populated (though scarcely) along its entire length and currently equipped with three airports and important military and communications facilities. French domains occupy a more compact area, and their strategic environment is not as restless as that of its British counterpart. However, the nation is truly present in the southern hemisphere: Réunion, a department with more than 800,000 inhabitants that will be the base of the new ship, as well as nearby Mayotte, with around 200,000 people, are both indeed part of the Republic, thus comprising the French state in full form –that is not the case with the British overseas territories.
On the other hand, the French territories are much further away from Dumont d 'Urville research station than the Falklands are from Rothera base (1,850 km) or even Halley VI (3,040 km). Réunion Island lies about 5,000 km from the nearest point in Antarctica –it does not seem to be so distant when one thinks that Cape Town is around 4,000 km from Queen Maud Land, or that Christchurch and McMurdo are separated by 3,830 km. However, France's direct concerns in Antarctica are more than 7,600 km away.
Dumont d’Urville base
Adélie Land (La Terre-Adélie) is the smallest of the claims on the southern continent –a narrow strip between the 136º and 142º E meridians, stretching from the seashore to the South Pole, with an approximate área of 432,000 km2. It was on that coast that the French navigator Dumont d’Urville landed in 1840, a few kilometers far from the place where today is the scientific station that bears his name, which has been running continuously since 1956. French have been occupying the region since 1950, with the establishment of Port Martin base, destroyed by a fire in 1952, and later built Charcot station (1957-60), in the hinterland, but the territorial claim had been laid in 1924.
The Landing Rock (Rocher du Débarquement) is currently an Antarctic historic site (HSM-81)
The logistics on Adélie Land is deeply constrained by the impossibility for Dumont d'Urville base to receive intercontinental flights (in the years 1980-90 there was an unsuccessful attempt to build an airstrip, badly damaged by a tsunami months before it was completed). Maritime transport is the only suitable means for freighting of heavy or oversized loads, besides being broadely used in the movement of technical and scientific personnel.
The old L’Astrolabe docked near Dumont d’Urville station. In recent years, the ship was forced to unload several kilometers away from the base in early summer due to the thickness of the sea ice
The long distance between Réunion and Adélie Land makes the logistic chain still more complex. In principle, French would have two options: (a) to deliver the cargo directly from Réunion, by using a large ship, so as to make a single supply trip, or at most two; or (b) to seek another port closer to Antarctica to be used as an outpost –in that case a medium-sized vessel would be required to make a number of cruises to supply the Dumont d'Urville base.
The Japanese Antarctic program offers an example of the first alternative, albeit for a much longer route: departing from Tokyo, the Shirase icebreaker performs a single long journey on a cruise that lasts about six months. The vessel stops at Fremantle, Western Australia, just for the purchase of fresh food, and then leaves to Antarctica. Fremantle is Australia's secondary "gateway" to the southern zone, and for years the Japanese have been doing their last call before Syowa station in that port.
The southern Indian Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean
IPEV, however, has been using the second option since the 1950s, operating from Hobart, Australia, some 8,600 km away from Réunion and about 2,700 km from Dumont d'Urville station. Most of the cargo is shipped in advance to Australia via commercial shipping, and the French ship is responsible for four to five replenishment cruises (rotations) during the summer campaign, between late October and March. The large ammounts of cargo transported are also aimed to meet the needs of the French-Italian Concordia station, located inland, 1,100 km away from the French base. After the entry of the new L'Astrolabe into service, Hobart will become a temporary, rather than permanent, base for the ship used by the French Antarctic program.
The old L'Astrolabe at Hobart, her home port, with the icebreakers Aurora Australis, from Australia, and possibly Kapitan Dranitsyn, from Russia, in the background
A FRENCH-OWNED SHIP FOR DUAL USE – As seen, the new L’Astrolabe will be both a patrol vessel and a polar logistic ship. Unlike other new or under construction polar ships, the new watercraft is not designed to combine scientific and logistical applications; actually she is a military vessel that will be used in Antarctica as well. That is true not just because the watercraft will be operated by military personnel, but mainly for the reason that she will remain armed with machine guns for most of the time (in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty, no vessel is expected to enter carrying weapons in the 60º S parallel) – in such sense, she is more like the British patrol boat HMS Protector (A1730). The new L’Astrolabe still could be compared to the Chilean Marinero Fuentealba (OPV-83) and Colombian ARC 20 de Julio (PZE-46) –warships that are also used in the southern continent, although not aimed at logistics in the same way.
The dual use of L'Astrolabe will optimize the resources destined to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, allowing the metropolis to keep a watch over its possessions, especially with regard to the exploitation of fishing resources. It will also put a modern ship at the disposal of the polar institute –a very importante achievement for France.
Between 1951 and 1988 France did not have a ship of its own flag to reach Antarctica, and had to rent Norwegian, Danish and Canadian vessels. The entry of the old L'Astrolabe into service was hailed as an act of assertion of sovereignty, but the watercraft changed owners a few times over the years, ending in British hands, which led the acquirer P&O Maritime to create a French subsidiary in order to keep the contract with the government. That is the reason why the contractual frame concerning the new vessel has excluded the recourse to private shipowners, thus preventing France from falling again under the dependency of foreigners to get to the land it claims.
_________________________________________________________________________
(*) An emblematic example of the importance given to the expansion of the Exclusive Economic Zone is that of the tiny Brazilian Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, which is practically unfeasible for human life and since 1998 houses a permanently manned oceanographic station.
_________________________________________________________________________
Originally published at https://infraestruturaantartica.blogspot.com.br/2017/08/o-novo-lastrolabe-e-as-taaf-new.html. Main sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Astrolabe_(2016_icebreaker)
http://www.cargos-paquebots.net/Flotte_francaise/FICHES/L_ASTROLABE.htm
http://navaltoday.com/2017/07/13/french-navy-receives-icebreaker-and-patrol-vessel-lastrolabe/
http://www.navyrecognition.com/inde...isitcs-support-patrol-vessel-l-astrolabe.html
http://www.colsbleus.fr/articles/8695
http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_5/b_fdi_20-21/27052.pdf
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terres_australes_et_antarctiques_françaises
THE NEW L'ASTROLABE – Two years after the signing of the contract, the L'Astrolabe logistics and patrol polar vessel (pennant number P800) has already been delivered to France. Christened on July 12 in the French city of Concarneau, she will be received at her base on Réunion Island (Indian Ocean) in September, and will perform the first Antarctic supply mission in summer 2017-18.
At a cost of € 50 million, the watercraft was designed by Marine Assistance and built by the Piriou shipyard, both French, with technical advice from Aker Arctic (Finland). The hull was made in the Polish shipyard Crist and then transferred to France, where the ship was completed. She is 72 m in length, 16 m in beam and displaces about 4,000 t, with a freight capacity for 1,200 t of load. She has a crane for 35 t, is equipped with hangar for a helicopter and is able to accommodate up to 60 people on board, including the crew. Endowed with a hull certified by Bureau Veritas as icebreaker 5, the vessel was made to continuously navigate in a layer of 60 to 80 cm thick ice. She has the autonomy for a 35-day mission, at a 12 knots speed. The propulsion is diesel-powered, with four Wärtsilä 8L20 engines generating 1,600 kW each, connected to two controllable pitch propellers.
The Piriou shipyard is also responsible for the maintenance of the ship, to be held at Réunion Island during the three years following the delivery. Besides, it must provide training for the two relay crews that will operate the ship. Teams will be enabled for navigation in frozen waters by the French navy.
The new unit will replace two watercrafts: the naval patrol boat Albatros (P681, 1966-2015), and another vessel also called L'Astrolabe (some ships of historical French expeditions have made that name famous). The latter belonged to P&O Maritime Services, and was chartered annually between 1988 and 2017 by TAAF (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and IPEV (Institut Polaire Français Paul-Émile Victor). She was used in the supply missions of Dumont d'Urville Antarctic base and in the scientific support of the other IPEV stations located in the southern islands.
The new L'Astrolabe will be shared by three institutions, under a peculiar regime: owned by the TAAF, she will be operated by Marine nationale and chartered to the IPEV. Having the Australian port of Hobart as a temporary base, the polar institute will use the watercraft 120 days a year (between October and March) to support French operations in Adélie Land, Antarctica. For the remaining 245 days of the year (of which about 110 at sea), the navy will use the ship on armed patrol missions, mainly monitoring fishing in France's large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Indian Ocean.
EEZ AND CONTINENTAL SHELF – The exclusive economic zone corresponds to the limit of 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) counted from the coast to the high seas. Only the respective coastal nation is entitled to manage and exploit the living or non-living natural resources within that area. Subject to certain requirements, the willing nation may also claim the extension of the corresponding seabed area, in addition to the 200 nm and up to 350 nm over the continental shelf, thus obtaining exclusive access to the non-living resources of the seafloor and subsoil and to the living sedentary species. In addition to all the fishing, oil and natural gas, there are many other natural resources at the sea, and controversial ocean mining projects to extract the so-called "polymetallic nodules" from the seabed are already underway.
Considering a radius of 200nm, any oceanic island, however small, will have around it an exclusive economic zone with more than 430,000 km2, as long as there is no overlap with another EEZ, and there is still the referred possibility of extension of the continental shelf. Nevertheless, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) stipulates that no EEZ or seabed area will be assigned to the islets that can not be inhabited or economically exploited, even though the dominion over them is not under discussion. Among other reasons, that is why today even very small islands are subject to the sovereignty of some State, and, depending on their location, are effectively occupied (*).
Despite the small emerged area of French possessions in the Indian Ocean (less than 8.000 km2), its corresponding exclusive economic zone is more than 2.65 million km2 –an expressive portion within the almost 11.7 million km2 that form the entire French EEZ, which is the biggest in the world.
French EEZ is the largest in the world
The French EEZ in the Indian Ocean region and in the metropolis, in green
THE CURRENT FRENCH PRESENCE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AND IN THE ADÉLIE LAND – The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) are a vast overseas territory spread across the Indian Ocean and Antarctica, with climates ranging from polar to tropical. The territory comprises five different districts, namely: (1) Terre Adélie (the only Antarctic district and the only non-insular portion of TAAF, corresponding to the French claim on Antarctica); (2) the Kerguelen Islands and (3) the Crozet Islands, both situated in the subantarctic zone; (4) the subtropical St. Paul and Amsterdam Islands; and (5) the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean (Europa, Bassas da India, Juan de Nova, Glorioso and Tromelin). These places have no permanent population, but are kept occupied by scientific or military personnel –all but Bassas da India. The French Republic also has two overseas departments, Mayotte and Réunion, in the vicinity of the Scattered Islands.
In red, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands; in blue, the two overseas departments in the Indian Ocean
More than a million people live in the departments of Reunion and Mayotte. In addition to military police corps (Gendarmerie nationale), these places have a significant presence of the armed forces. In the archipelago of Mayotte there is a Foreign Legion detachment (260 men), besides 38 members of the Marine nationale, which operated three small boats in 2016. In Réunion Island there is a regiment of naval infantry paratroopers and a detachment of the French air force, which operates two transport aircraft Casa CN-235.
The city of Le Port, in the Réunion Island, houses a multifunctional port, the only one in France to combine the functions of a ferry terminal, a commercial port (for containers and for dry and liquid bulk), a fishing port, a yacht marina and a naval base. Besides being the home port for the new L'Astrolabe, it is where the Marine nationale docks the Floréal and Nivôse frigates (2,950 t of displacement), the patrol vessel Le Malin (1,300 t) and the brand-new multimission ship Champlain ( 2,300 t), in addition to smaller vessels. Le Port is also the base of operations for the oceanographic vessel Marion Dufresne 2, which, alike the old L'Astrolabe, is owned by a private company (Louis Dreyfus) and leased to the French government (to the TAAF, for logistics at insular areas, and to the IPEV, for oceanographic research).
IPEV owns five permanently occupied scientific bases in the region. One of them, Concordia, is located within the Australian Antarctic Territory, on the Antarctic plateau, but the others are situated in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands: Dumont d'Urville (in Adélie Land), Port-aux-Français (on the Kerguelen Islands) Alfred-Faure (on the Crozet Islands) and Martin-de-Viviès (on Amsterdam Island, also referred to as "New Amsterdam"). The so-called "Southern Lands" (Kerguelen, Crozet, St. Paul and Amsterdam islands) are very remote and accessible only by sea, but France maintains rudimentary airstrips and meteorological stations on the other islands that make up the TAAF, except for Bassas da India atoll, unsuitable for occupation. The Scattered Islands are home to small military detachments from Réunion and Mayotte: the naval infantry paratroopers are present at Europa and Juan de Nova Islands and the Glorioso Islands are garrisoned by the Foreign Legion. Tromelin receives scientific personnel only.
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands are a juridical person with administrative and financial autonomy. Subordinated directly to the French government, its central administration is based in Saint-Pierre, Reunion (it was headquartered in Paris until the year 2000). Each of its five districts is a deconcentrated circumscription of the entity: the respective capital is the research station itself, with a TAAF representative in each district (chef de district), to whom legal and administrative functions are delegated –the exception is the Scattered Islands, whose chief is based in Saint-Pierre.
However, French sovereignty over much of these Indian Ocean and Antarctic territories is quite controversial. The pretension over Adélie Land, whose litigation is suspended under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, is only recognized by four countries (the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia and New Zealand). The department of Mayotte is claimed by Comoros Islands. The Scattered Islands are also disputed: Europa, Bassas da India, Juan de Nova and Glorioso are claimed by Madagascar, while Tromelin is claimed by Mauritius. Out of all the TAAF and Indian Ocean departments, only the possession of Réunion, Crozet, Kerguelen, St. Paul and Amsterdam islands is not disputed.
LOGISTICS FROM RÉUNION ISLAND – The situation of France in the southeastern Indian Ocean resembles the British presence in the South Atlantic. Both are northern hemisphere countries, with a history of colonial domination and territorial pretensions over Antarctica, occupying territories that are claimed by their less powerful neighbors, but there are fundamental differences between both cases. France does not have something like the Ascension-Saint Helena-Tristan da Cunha-Falklands line, populated (though scarcely) along its entire length and currently equipped with three airports and important military and communications facilities. French domains occupy a more compact area, and their strategic environment is not as restless as that of its British counterpart. However, the nation is truly present in the southern hemisphere: Réunion, a department with more than 800,000 inhabitants that will be the base of the new ship, as well as nearby Mayotte, with around 200,000 people, are both indeed part of the Republic, thus comprising the French state in full form –that is not the case with the British overseas territories.
On the other hand, the French territories are much further away from Dumont d 'Urville research station than the Falklands are from Rothera base (1,850 km) or even Halley VI (3,040 km). Réunion Island lies about 5,000 km from the nearest point in Antarctica –it does not seem to be so distant when one thinks that Cape Town is around 4,000 km from Queen Maud Land, or that Christchurch and McMurdo are separated by 3,830 km. However, France's direct concerns in Antarctica are more than 7,600 km away.
Dumont d’Urville base
Adélie Land (La Terre-Adélie) is the smallest of the claims on the southern continent –a narrow strip between the 136º and 142º E meridians, stretching from the seashore to the South Pole, with an approximate área of 432,000 km2. It was on that coast that the French navigator Dumont d’Urville landed in 1840, a few kilometers far from the place where today is the scientific station that bears his name, which has been running continuously since 1956. French have been occupying the region since 1950, with the establishment of Port Martin base, destroyed by a fire in 1952, and later built Charcot station (1957-60), in the hinterland, but the territorial claim had been laid in 1924.
The Landing Rock (Rocher du Débarquement) is currently an Antarctic historic site (HSM-81)
The logistics on Adélie Land is deeply constrained by the impossibility for Dumont d'Urville base to receive intercontinental flights (in the years 1980-90 there was an unsuccessful attempt to build an airstrip, badly damaged by a tsunami months before it was completed). Maritime transport is the only suitable means for freighting of heavy or oversized loads, besides being broadely used in the movement of technical and scientific personnel.
The old L’Astrolabe docked near Dumont d’Urville station. In recent years, the ship was forced to unload several kilometers away from the base in early summer due to the thickness of the sea ice
The long distance between Réunion and Adélie Land makes the logistic chain still more complex. In principle, French would have two options: (a) to deliver the cargo directly from Réunion, by using a large ship, so as to make a single supply trip, or at most two; or (b) to seek another port closer to Antarctica to be used as an outpost –in that case a medium-sized vessel would be required to make a number of cruises to supply the Dumont d'Urville base.
The Japanese Antarctic program offers an example of the first alternative, albeit for a much longer route: departing from Tokyo, the Shirase icebreaker performs a single long journey on a cruise that lasts about six months. The vessel stops at Fremantle, Western Australia, just for the purchase of fresh food, and then leaves to Antarctica. Fremantle is Australia's secondary "gateway" to the southern zone, and for years the Japanese have been doing their last call before Syowa station in that port.
The southern Indian Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean
IPEV, however, has been using the second option since the 1950s, operating from Hobart, Australia, some 8,600 km away from Réunion and about 2,700 km from Dumont d'Urville station. Most of the cargo is shipped in advance to Australia via commercial shipping, and the French ship is responsible for four to five replenishment cruises (rotations) during the summer campaign, between late October and March. The large ammounts of cargo transported are also aimed to meet the needs of the French-Italian Concordia station, located inland, 1,100 km away from the French base. After the entry of the new L'Astrolabe into service, Hobart will become a temporary, rather than permanent, base for the ship used by the French Antarctic program.
The old L'Astrolabe at Hobart, her home port, with the icebreakers Aurora Australis, from Australia, and possibly Kapitan Dranitsyn, from Russia, in the background
A FRENCH-OWNED SHIP FOR DUAL USE – As seen, the new L’Astrolabe will be both a patrol vessel and a polar logistic ship. Unlike other new or under construction polar ships, the new watercraft is not designed to combine scientific and logistical applications; actually she is a military vessel that will be used in Antarctica as well. That is true not just because the watercraft will be operated by military personnel, but mainly for the reason that she will remain armed with machine guns for most of the time (in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty, no vessel is expected to enter carrying weapons in the 60º S parallel) – in such sense, she is more like the British patrol boat HMS Protector (A1730). The new L’Astrolabe still could be compared to the Chilean Marinero Fuentealba (OPV-83) and Colombian ARC 20 de Julio (PZE-46) –warships that are also used in the southern continent, although not aimed at logistics in the same way.
The dual use of L'Astrolabe will optimize the resources destined to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, allowing the metropolis to keep a watch over its possessions, especially with regard to the exploitation of fishing resources. It will also put a modern ship at the disposal of the polar institute –a very importante achievement for France.
Between 1951 and 1988 France did not have a ship of its own flag to reach Antarctica, and had to rent Norwegian, Danish and Canadian vessels. The entry of the old L'Astrolabe into service was hailed as an act of assertion of sovereignty, but the watercraft changed owners a few times over the years, ending in British hands, which led the acquirer P&O Maritime to create a French subsidiary in order to keep the contract with the government. That is the reason why the contractual frame concerning the new vessel has excluded the recourse to private shipowners, thus preventing France from falling again under the dependency of foreigners to get to the land it claims.
_________________________________________________________________________
(*) An emblematic example of the importance given to the expansion of the Exclusive Economic Zone is that of the tiny Brazilian Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, which is practically unfeasible for human life and since 1998 houses a permanently manned oceanographic station.
_________________________________________________________________________
Originally published at https://infraestruturaantartica.blogspot.com.br/2017/08/o-novo-lastrolabe-e-as-taaf-new.html. Main sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Astrolabe_(2016_icebreaker)
http://www.cargos-paquebots.net/Flotte_francaise/FICHES/L_ASTROLABE.htm
http://navaltoday.com/2017/07/13/french-navy-receives-icebreaker-and-patrol-vessel-lastrolabe/
http://www.navyrecognition.com/inde...isitcs-support-patrol-vessel-l-astrolabe.html
http://www.colsbleus.fr/articles/8695
http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_5/b_fdi_20-21/27052.pdf
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terres_australes_et_antarctiques_françaises
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