Xue Long
Xue Long departing from Fremantle in March 2016 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| China | |
| Name | Xue Long (simplified Chinese: 雪龙; traditional Chinese: 雪龍; pinyin: Xuě Lóng) |
| Operator | Polar Research Institute of China |
| Port of registry | Shanghai, People's Republic of China |
| Builder | Kherson Shipyard, Ukraine |
| Yard number | 6003 |
| Laid down | 1 January 1990 |
| Completed | 1 March 1993 |
| Refit | 2007 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Research vessel |
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | 21,025 tons |
| Length | 167 m (548 ft) |
| Beam | 22.6 m (74 ft) |
| Draft | 9 m (30 ft) |
| Ice class | CCS B1* |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | Single-shaft, ducted controllable-pitch propeller |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km; 23,000 mi) |
| Complement | 34 crew, 128 passengers or researchers |
| Aircraft carried | One helicopter (e.g. Kamov Ka-32A (Snow Eagle) used by Chinare or Harbin Z-9) |
| Aviation facilities | Helipad |
| Notes | 100 m2 (1,100 sq ft) laboratory space |
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Xue Long (simplified Chinese: 雪龙; traditional Chinese: 雪龍; pinyin: Xuě Lóng; lit. 'Snow Dragon', shway-lung) is a Chinese icebreaking research vessel. Built in 1993 at Kherson Shipyard in Ukraine, she was converted from an Arctic cargo ship to a polar research and re-supply vessel by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding of Shanghai by the mid-1990s. The vessel was extensively upgraded in 2007 and 2013.
Until 2019, Xue Long was the only Chinese icebreaking research ship in service. A second Chinese polar icebreaker named Xue Long 2, slightly smaller but more capable, entered service in July 2019.