ARA Almirante Irízar (Q 5)
The Almirante Irizar was designed for supplying scientific research stations and also working as a floating laboratory or carrying out search and rescue. The year 2000 White Paper referenced this vessel as "Varsillia" but this nomenclature refers to the shipbuilder Wartsila Company in Finland rather than the ship itself. Previous Argentine icebreakers include the "General San Martin", "M/V Ushuaia" and "Bahía Paraíso" (a 400-foot supply ship wrecked in Antarctica in 1989, causing a massive fuel spill).
Icebreaking Capability is continuous through 1 m thick ice, Ramming: 5.6 m thick ice. The ship was named after Vice Admiral Julian Irizar, who in 1903 (then with the rank of Lieutenant) commanded the Argentine corvette ARA Uruguay in a mission to rescue the scientific expedition of Professor Otto Nordenskjold, which had been trapped by the Antarctic winter. The mission was a success.
She was built at the Wartsila shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, as per a contract signed in 1975 between the Argentine Navy and the shipyard. Irizar was launched in February 1978 and was formally commissioned on December of that year, arriving at Argentina on March 23 1979. She replaced the elderly icebreaker ARA General San Martin, which was retired from active service.
The Almirante Irizar differs from Wartsila's usual type of icebreaker in that she is designed to supply Argentinian research stations in the Antarctic and, if necessary, to overwinter there with 210 persons on board her complement is 233, including some 100 passengers. The ship carries rescue equipment and incorporates research laboratories. Principal particulars are:-- Length excluding stern towing-notch 119.3 m; Breadth 25 m; Draught 9.5 m; Displacement 14,900 tonnes; Propulsion Diesel-electric. Four 3,828-kW
Hull construction is typical of icebreakers. The ship can break level ice up to a thickness of 1 meter, depending on conditions. An air-bubbling system is fitted. Deck equipment includes two 16-tonne jib cranes, a 60-tonne max. pull towing winch, and a special winch system for bringing a helicopter back on to the pad in poor weather. Denny-Brown retractable stabilisers are fitted. The article, which includes a side-elevation drawing of the ship, mentions that final ice-tests will be carried out when the vessel arrives in Antarctica.
Almirante Irizar's peacetime missions include annual campaigns to resupply and rotate the personnel assigned to the Argentine Antarctic outposts, as well as conducting and supporting scientific endeavors in Antarctica. She has also conducted several passenger tours to Patagonia and the Antarctic. The ship is homeported at the Argentine Navy's Buenos Aires Naval Anchorage (Apostadero Naval Buenos Aires) in the capital city of Buenos Aires.
The Irizar played a part in the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Reports reached the defenders about the presence of Argentine ships, and at 4.30am, more Buzo Tactico land at Mullet Creek apparently from Sea King helicopters embarked on icebreaker "Almirante Irizar". Most of them headed for the empty barracks at Moody Brook while the rest pass quietly below Sapper Hill on their way to Government House. As they approached their objectives the destroyers and frigates of TF 40 took up support and escort positions and the LST headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.
The icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar underwent an extended USD17 million refit over two years. Phase one of the refit and modernisation program was due to start at the end of September 2002. The hull, propulsion and all basic systems were overhauled over three months. A second and longer phase in the refit program began in late March 2003. Besides completing the refit of the hull and its basic systems, a new communications and navigation suite were installed.
A fire burned in the Argentine icebreaker Almirante Irizar in the south Atlantic Ocean on April 11th, 2007. The fire broke out in the generator of the Almirante Irizar while it was at sea in the south Atlantic, forcing the crew of 296 to abandon ship. All crew members on board the Argentine navy's flagship icebreaker were safely removed from the ship after it caught fire. Specialists on three navy ships had reached the scene and boarded the Almirante Irizar to examine the damage from the fire which was extinguished. They towed the ship to the navy base at Puerto Belgrano, some 450 miles south of Buenos Aires.
Argentina’s Antarctic 2007/08 season had a modest launching in November 2007 with two vintage patrol vessels replacing icebreaker Almirante Irizar which suffered a major fire accident and was still undergoing repairs. The two vessels, “Suboficial Castillo” and “Canal de Beagle” symbolically sailed on Sunday from Buenos Aires for Ushuaia and from there to accomplish two main tasks: deliver provisions to Argentine bases and scientific stations in Antarctica and, with a Chilean patrol vessel, jointly monitor the South Seas, as part of a bilateral agreement.
The devastating fire damaged the ship, destroyed two Sea King helicopters and damaged a third so severely that it was not flyable. A team from NAVAIR’s Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft Program Office worked hand-in-hand with the Armada Argentina (Argentine Navy) to deliver six UH-3H Sea King helicopters, four flyable versions and two for spare parts.
