Jump to content Jump to footer
Install App

Install this app on your device for a better experience.

Where is RV Polarstern?

As an expedition ship and resupply ship for the Neumayer Station III in the Antarctic, Research Vessel Polarstern represents a central pillar of German polar research. Since being commissioned on 9 December 1982, the AWI’s flagship has logged more than 1.78 million nautical miles – the equivalent of circling the Equator more than 82 times. Thanks to an extensive overhaul from 1999 to 2001, even after more than 40 years in service, RV Polarstern is still one of the most capable research ships in the world and offers experts from around the globe the opportunity to safely and effectively conduct research in the most extreme regions on our planet.

Curious about where RV Polarstern is right now? You can learn more here.

Hourly updated course plots for the research icebreaker RV Polarstern, operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, with sea-ice data from the University of Bremen (Institute of Environmental Physics).

Real time position map RV Polarstern.